The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-05-02

Sssssa II the International Series
fer Mag Z. IsM2-The Church
M Antioch.
THE LESSON TEXT.

HE l<ESsoN TENT.
tActs lll9-3VJ
II. Now they which were scattered
abroad upon the persecution that arose
ABOUT stephen Travelled as far as Phenice.
and cyprus, and Antioch. preaching the
WORD 70 none but unto the Jews only.
~ And some 81 them were men Of Cy-
prus and cyrcne. which, when they were
come 70 Antioch. spake unto the Grtcians.
preac hing the Lord Jesus.
Il And the hand OF the Lord was with
them. and a great number believed, and
turned unto the Lord
- Then tidings OF these things came
unto The ears Of the church which was In
Jerusalem; and they sent forth Barnabas.
that ne should go as far ~ Antioch.
- Who. when lie came. and had seen
Inc grace OF God. was glad. and exhorted
them all, that with purpose Of heart they
would cleave unto the Lord.
~ For ne was good man. and fun OF the
Holy Ghost and OF faith. and much people
was added unto the Lord.
- Then departed Barnabas TO Tarsus.
for TO seek Saul:
-. And when he had found him. he
brought him unto Antioch. And Il came
70 pass, that whole year they assembled
themselves with the church. ard taught
mucH people. And the disc pies were called
chris tians first In Antioch.
a. Anc In these days came prophets from
sciuSd4tH unto AHtlOeD.
e And there stood up one Of them named
Agabus, and sgniiieI by the spirit that
there should be great dearth throughout
al the world. which came 10 pass In the
days Of claudius Caesar
~ Then the disciples every man accord
ing 10 his ability. determined TO send re-
iief unto the brethren which dweit In
Juces.
~ Which also they did, and sent II o the
e4cers by the hands OF BarLabas and saul
GOLDEN TExT.-And the hand Of
the Lord was with the m; aud = great
number believed, and turned unto
the Lord.-Acts 1871.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
Many conversions ...............Acts 1l:ls-A
Barnabas anc Saul..............Acts IL :2J-26
prophecy OF famine. .....Acts ll:-s-3V
Time.-A. ID. "A and -.
Place.-Antioch, capital of Syria.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
Church Expansion.-It was impos-
sible 10 confine the church within Ju-
daistic lines. As we have seen, the
leaders were not ready TO preach the
Gospel to the Gentiles. Even after Pc
ter's experience at Caesarea with Cor
nelius and his friends. the apostles and
evangelists did not push out among the
heather. The way was led. as our les
son shows. by disciples whose very
names are unknown.
Many Probably the
refugees from the persecution in Jeru-
salem travelled slowly. OF course many
found permanent homes much nearer
Jerusalem than Phoenicia, but per-
haps the greater number went either
TO Tyre or TO Antioch. Their habit
Of speaking only 10 Jews was natural.
Perhaps news Of Peters visit TO Cor
nclius reached them before they be-
gan preaching to the Gentiles in An
iioch: perhaps they acted under the
direct impulse Of the Holy Spirit. II is
noteworthy that these first preachers
TO the Gentiles had lived away from
the influences of Jerusalem. What
ever the first impulse, their work was
sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. who
made il effective. The more effective
such work as this was. the more GER
tain was it TO be questioned in Jeru-
salem. Yet the choice Of Barnabas
rs the commissioner of the mother
church showed a disposition 10 be fair.
He was probably the most influential
unofficial member OF the church in
.Jerusalem: he was a man OF great
generosity and liberality: he had dis
tinguished himself by large giving
(4:36. 37) and by aiding Saal when
others looked askance at him (9:2O.
The work met the test. and Barnabas
was so pleased and interested tina; he
did not return to Jerusalem at all ex-
cept perhaps to make report, but
Joined the preachers in Antioch.
Barnabas and Saul.-Barnabas had
seen that Saul could not work effec-
lively in Jerusalem. but he saw here
an opportunity for him and so went
after him. We have no record Of what
Saul had been doing in Tarsus. nor do
we know how long he had been there.
sut he was ready to work in Antioch.
-he name Christian is Of heather ORR
gin and was probably meant as a With
cism. The word occurs only three
times in the New Testament. and al
ways in such connection as TO show
that il was not then applied to them
selves by Christ's followers.
Prophecy Of Famine Many dis
ciples from Jerusalem must have Wis
| tied Antioch. The prophets are men
toned because the result of their pre-
diction was noteworthy. There was
no single famine lover all the world"
in the days OF Claudius. but that en-
peror had an almost constant battle
with famine in different parts Of his
dominion, at one time himself suffer
ing from the difficulty Of obtaining
food. The famines that especially af-
fected Jerusalem were in A. ID. A. or As,
and 40.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
The Gospel is meant for all the
world. and therefore should be
preached TO all men.
To scatter real believers is TO scatter
the Word of God, for they will be sure