Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-04-15

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| Lesson for April rs.
Golden Text.-"Then hath God also to
the Gentiles granted repentance unto
life."-Acts H.: IL.
Gentiles converted at Antioch Is the
subject of this lesson-Acts H.: 1926.
The present lesson turns back to take up a
thread dropped earlier in the book. At
the time of the persecution that followed
Stephens martyrdom, it was mentioned
that the disciples were scattered abroad
to distant lands Is: ~. That was (proba-
bly, in the year 81. Nothing Is heard Of
these exiles until after the writer Of
Acts has narrated some of the important
events centering about the Jerusalem
church and it's leaders, which we have
been studying for several weeks. But
those who were driven forth by persecu-
ton were not idle as they journeyed
throughout Syria and the adjoining coun-
tries. Wherever they went, they wit
messed for their Master, and churches
| sprang up in many cities, of which We
shall hear more hereafter. 1t is with the
church ut Antioch that we have to do in
this lesson. That church became a new
| center Of Christianity.
| "Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch"
the places named should be pointed out
on map in class. Phoenicia was the
narrow plain between Lebanon Noun
tains and the Mediterranean Sea, ex-
tending as far south as Mount Carmel,
and including the cities of Tyre and ST.
don. Cyprus was the large island still
known by that name. Antioch can be
readily located on an outline map as be-
ing near the angle where the coastline of
Syria bends sharply to the west to form
the coast of Asia Minor. 1t was about
as far north OF Damascus as Damascus
was north of Jerusalem. At this time it
was the capital of the province of Syria,
and famous city of the eastern part OF
the Roman Empire. 1t was a great COM
mercial center, being on the direct route
from the far east to Rome; and a city re-
nowned for its luxury and vice, some
what as Corinth was.-"Preaching the
word to none but unto the Jews only"
naturally enough; for they had left Jeru-
salem before any signs were shown of
a tendency towards universal evangelical
| ton.
| "Cyrene;" far away in Libya, North
| Africa, a land where even Jews were
less rigid in their ideas than those in Pal
estine.-"Spake unto the Grecians;" this
should be Greeks" The former term
represents a word which means Greek
speaking Jews, or Jewish proselytes; the
latter, Greeks who were still pagan, not
Jewish.
"Exhorted them all that with purpose
of heart they would ceave unto the
Lord" Barnabas knew the dangers that
confront a community composed of new
converts, none of whom are carefully
grounded in the word of God or possessed
of varied Christian experience-the dan
| gers of fickleness and uncertainty. He
recommended them not to place their re-
lance on any man, but to 'cleave unto
| the Lord"
'.To seek SAUL" since his conversion
| five or six years before this, Saul had
lived in comparative obscurity. Three
years of the time was spent in Arabia"
though what part of Arabia we are not in
formed. The remainder Of the period was
given to missionary work in Syria and
| Cilicia; with Tarsus as a center (Gal.
IL D. We may be sure that Saul was
never idle during these years of which we
know so little.
| How much the Christian world would
like to have full record of that year at
| Antioch, or even a letter of Saul to the
church there, written in later years
such as undoubtedly he must have writ
ten. How we should like to know some
thing about the strange, fresh enthusi-
asm that swept over the luxurious and
| wicked city when the Spirit of God
| breathed into the hearts of thousands of
its citizens loathing for sin and long
| ing for forgiveness and peace. But it is
not the design of the New Testament to
give complete history of the beginnings
of Christianity. There is hint here and
a line there, in which are suggested whole
volumes of annals never written and new
err to be written. Most of all is this true
| of the life of Jesus himself, of which we
| have only the merest outline, few days
being fully described, while whole months
are passed over with word.
Teaching Hints.
The progress of Gods kingdom is
stopped by no barriers, geographical, ra-
cial. religious. If one nation fails to
avail itself of the opportunities offered
| to it, the precious charge passes over to
another. No man, and no body of men
can afford to rest securely in the assur-
ance that they are the chosen of God
and he could not get along without them.
| The Jews tried that and failed. The Ro-
man Catholic Church tried il and failed.
| The established Protestant churches of
several countries have tried 1t and failed.
Every time Jerusalem becomes too mar
row and bigoted and self-suficient for
Gods work to prosper, he has an Antioch
ready to receive the blessing.
Nothing is so favorable to the cause of
true religion as a just appreciation by
religious leaders of each others peculiar
powers and endowments. The men at Je-
rusalem knew Barnabas for good man,
full Of the Holy Ghost and of faith"
and they sent him to help out the young
converts at Antioch. Barnabas went, did
his part, saw there was more than he
could handle, and went to Tarsus and
hunted up Saul to help him. One man
can do one sort of religious work, another
Is better fitted for something else. There
is but one Moody, but there are many
pastors who can and are doing a work of
edification and quiet evangelization that
Moody could not do.
The name Christian, now so loosely
used, was once a word full of meaning
bitter, resentful, mocking meaning to
those who used ii as an epithet; proud,
happy, humbly faithful meaning as to
those who accepted it as their own. To
be hailed on the busy streets of Antioch
as Christianos meant ridicule and unpleas-
ant notoriety, possibly danger; yet men
were glad to receive the name for the sake
of its holy meaning--a partisan of Christ