Contents ▼▲
Front Matter The Story of a Beautiful Garden The First Baby in the World and His Brother The Great Ship That Saved Eight People The Tower That Was Never Finished The Story of a Long Journey How Abram's Choice Brought Blessing The Angel by the Well The Rain of Fire That Fell on a City The Boy Who Became an Archer How an Angel's Voice Saved a Boy's Life The Story of a Journey after a Wife How Jacob Stole His Brother's Blessing Jacob's Wonderful Dream A Midnight Wrestling Match The Rich Man's Son Who Was Sold as a Slave From the Prison to the Palace How Joseph's Dream Came True A Lost Brother Found From the Land of Famine to the Land of Plenty The Beautiful Baby Who Was Found in a River The Voice from the Burning Bush The River That Ran Blood The Night When a Nation Was Born How the Sea Became Dry Land and the Sky Rained Bre The Mountain That Smoked and Words That Were Spoke How Aaron Made a Golden Calf and What Became of It The Tent Where God Lived Among His People How They Worshipped God in the Tabernacle What Strong Drink Brought to Aaron's Sons The Scapegoat in the Wilderness The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan How the Long Journey of the Israelites Came to an What a Wise Man Learned from an Ass How Moses Looked upon the Promised Land The Story of Job The Story of a Scarlet Cord How the River Jordan Became Dry The Story of a Wedge of Gold How Joshua Conquered the Land of Canaan The Old Man Who Fought Against the Giants The Avenger of Blook and the Cities of Refuge The Story of an Altar Beside the River The Presnt That Ehud Brought to King Eglon How a Woman Won a Great Victory Gideon and His Brave Three Hundred Jephthah's Rash Promise and What Came from It The Strong Man: How He Lived and How He Died The Idol Temple at Dan and Its Priest How Ruth Gleaned in the Field of Boaz The Little Boy with a Linen Coat How the Idol Fell Down Before the Ark The Last of the Judges The Tall Man Who Was Chosen King How Saul Saved the Eyes of the Men of Jabesh The Brave Young Prince Saul's Great Sin and His Great Loss The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem The Shepherd Boy's Fight with the Giant The Little Boy Looking for the Arrows Where David Found the Giant's Sword How David Spared Saul's Life The Last Days of King Saul The Shepherd Boy Becomes a King The Sound in the Treetops The Cripple at the King's Table The Prophet's Story of the Little Lamb David's Handsome Son and How He Stole the Kingdom Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne The Angel with the Drawn Sword on Mount Moriah Solomon on This Father's Throne The Wise Young King The House of God on Mount Moriah The Last Days of Solomon's Reign The Breaking Up of a Great Kingdom The King Who Led Israel to Sin The Prophet Who Raised a Boy to Life The Prayer That Was Answered in Fire The Voice That Spoke to Elijah in the Mount The Wounded Prophet and His Story What Ahab Paid for His Vineyard The Arrow That Killed a King Elijah's Chariot of Fire A Spring Sweetened by Salt The Pot of Oil and the Pot of Poison The Little Boy at Shunem How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper The Chariots of Fire around Elisha What the Lepers Found in the Camp Jehu, the Furious Driver of His Chariot Elisha and the Bow; Jonah and Nineveh How the Ten Tribes Were Lost The First Four Kings of Judah The Little Boy Who Was Crowned King Three Kings and a Great Prophet The Good King Hezekiah The Lost Book Found in the Temple The Last Four Kings of Judah and the Weeping Proph What Ezekiel Saw in the Valley The Jewish Captives in the Court of the King The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace The Tree That Was Cut Down and Grew Again The Writing upon the Wall Daniel in the Den of Lions The Story of a Joyous Journey The New Temple on Mount Moriah The Beautiful Queen of Persia The Scribe Who Wrote the Old Testament The Nobleman Who Built the Wall of Jerusalem Ezra's Great Bible Class in Jerusalem The Angel by the Altar The Manger of Bethlehem The Star and the Wise Men The Boy in his Father's House The Prophet in the Wilderness Jesus in the Desert, and beside the River The Water Jars at the Wedding Feast The Stranger at the Well The Story of a Boy in Capernaum and a Riot A Net Full of Fishes The Leper and the Man Let Down through the Roof The Cripple at the Pool and the Withered Hand The Twelve Disciples and the Sermon on the Mount The Captain's Servant, the Widow's Son, and a Sinn Some Stories Jesus Told by the Sea "Peace, Be Still" The Little Girl Who Was Raised to Life A Dancing Girl and What Was Given Her The Feast beside the Sea and What Followed It The Answer to a Mother's Prayer The Glory of Jesus on the Mountain The Little Child in the Arms of Jesus At the Feast of Tabernacles The Man with Clay on His Face The Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan Lazarus Raised to Life Some Parables in Perea The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man Jesus at Jericho Palm Sunday The Last Vistis of Jesus to the Temple The Parables on the Mount of Olives The Last Supper The Olive Orchard and the High Priests Hall The Crown of Thorns The Darkest Day of All the World The Brightest Day of All the World The Stranger on the Shore The Church of the First Days The Man at the Beautiful Gate The Right Way to Give, and the Wrong Way Stephen with the Shining Face The Man Reading in the Chariot The Voice That Spoke to Saul What Peter Saw by the Sea How the Iron Gate Was Opened The Earliest Missionaries The Song in the Prison Paul's Speech on the Hill Paul at Corinth Paul at Ephesus Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem The Speech on the Stairs Two Years in Prison The Story That Paul Told to the King Paul in the Storm How Paul Came to Rome and How He Lived There The Throne of God The City of God

Story of the Bible Told for Young and Old - Jesse Hurlbut




Paul's Speech on the Hill


From Philippi, Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica, which was the largest city in Macedonia. There they found many Jews, and a synagogue where the Jews worshipped. For three weeks Paul spoke at the meetings in the synagogue, and showed the meaning of the Old Testament writings that the Saviour for whom all the Jews were looking must suffer, and die, and rise again from the dead. And Paul said to them:

"This Jesus whom I preach to you, is the Christ, the Son of God and the King of Isreal."

Some of the Jews believed Paul's teachings, and a far greater number of the Greeks, the people of the city who were not Jews, became followers of Christ. And with them were some of the leading women of the city, so that a large church of believers in Christ arose in Thessalonica.

But the Jews who would not believe in Jesus were very angry as they saw so many seeking the Lord. They stirred up a crowd of the lowest people of the city, and raised a riot, and led a noisy throng to the house of a man named Jason, with whom they supposed that Paul and Silas were staying. The crowd broke into the house, and sought for Paul and Silas, but could not find them. Then they seized Jason, the master of the house and some other friends of the apostles, and dragged them before the rulers of the city, and cried out:

"These men who have turned the whole world upside down, have come to this city, and Jason has taken them into his house. They are acting contrary to the laws of Caesar the emperor, for they say that there is another king, a man whose name is Jesus."

The rulers of the city were greatly troubled when they saw these riotous people, and heard their words. They knew that Jason and his friends had done nothing against the law of the land; but to content the crowd they made the believers promise to obey the laws, and then they let them go free. The brethren of the church sent away Paul and Silas, in the night-time, to the city of Berea, which was not far from Thessalonica. There again they found a synagogue of the Jews, and, as in other places, Paul went into its meetings and preached Jesus, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles, many of whom worshipped with the Jews.

These people were of a nobler spirit than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they did not refuse to hear Paul's teachings. They listened with open minds, and every day they studied the Old Testament writings, to see whether the words spoken by Paul were true. And many of them became believers in Jesus, not only the Jews, but the Gentiles also; for those who study the Bible will always find Christ in its pages. But the news went to Thessalonica, that the word of Christ was being taught in Berea. The Jews of Thessalonica sent some men to Berea, who stirred up the people against Paul and Silas. To avoid such a riot as had arisen in Thessalonica, the brethren in Berea took Paul away from the city, but Silas and Timothy stayed for a time.

The men who went with Paul led him down to the sea, and went with him to Athens. There they left Paul alone, but took back with them Paul's message to Silas and Timothy to hasten to him as quickly as they could come. While Paul was waiting for his friends in Athens, his spirit was stirred in hem as he saw the city full of idols. It was said that in the city of Athens the images of the gods were more in number than the people. Paul talked with the Jews in the synagogue, and in the public square of the city with the people whom he met. For all the people of Athens, and those who were visiting in that city, spent most of their time in telling or in hearing whatever was new. And there were in Athens many men who were thought very wise, and who were teachers of what they called wisdom. Some of these men met Paul, and as they heard him, they said scornfully, "What does this babbler say?"

And because he preached to them of Jesus, and of his rising from the dead, some said, "This man seems to be talking about some strange gods!"

There was in Athens a hill, called Mars' Hill, where a court was held upon seats of stone ranged around. They brought Paul to this place, and asked him, saying, "May we know what is this new teaching that you are giving? You bring to our ears some strange things, and we wish to know what these things mean."

Then Paul stood in the middle of Mars' Hill, with the people of the city around him, and he said:

"Ye men of Athens, I see that you are exceedingly given to worship. For as I passed by I saw an altar, upon which was written these words, 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.' That God whom you know not, and whom you seek to worship, is the God that I make known to you. The God who made the world and all things that are in it, is Lord of heaven and earth, and does not dwell in temples made by the hands of men; nor is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything. For God gives to all men life, and breath, and all things. And he has made of one blood all the peoples who live on the earth: that all men should seek God, and should feel after him, and should find him; for he is not far away from any of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: even as some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are the children of God.' Since we are God's children, we should not think that God is like gold, or silver, or stone, wrought by the hands of men. Now God calls upon men to turn from their sins; and he tells us that he has fixed a day when he will judge the world through that man Jesus Christ whom he has chosen, and whom he has raised from the dead."

Paul preaching on Mars' Hill

PAUL PREACHING ON MARS' HILL


When they heard Paul speak of the dead being raised, some laughed in scorn; but others said, "We will hear you again about this." After a time Paul went away from Athens. Very few people joined with Paul, and believed on Jesus. Among these few was a man named Dionysius, one of the court that met on Mars' Hill, and a woman named Damaris. A few others joined with them; but in Athens the followers of Christ were not many.