The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-09-12
know too little of the Paul-Barnabas

er or is finished in manner or speech,
but because he comes to you with
real life experiences and you realize
that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in
deed the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth.
That Rally Day in the church at
Antioch was a memorable occasion,
and undoubtedly stirred the life of
the church to a degree that it had
not known before. Probably there
were some there who for the first
time lad borne in upon their souls
the sense OF their own obligations to-
wards others and felt a special call
to service. 1t is the spark that is
struck from the flint which can set
the tinder into a blaze, and not the
flint or the piece of steel by itself. 1t
is the lightning flash which spits out
the ball of electrical fire, and not
the thunder clap which rolls through
the heavens. 1t is life in touch with
life that quickens and produces re-
suits. 1t is real heart and life ex-
periences which supply inspiration
for the most stirring testimonies.
A Suggestion for Rally Day.-And if
you want to make Rally Day in your
church and Sunday school an occasion
of great profit and blessing, and stir
the meeting to its foundations, and
stimulate to more and better work
than ever before, cut out all the fine
cut and dried speeches of welcome, all
the fulsome praise, all the good prom
ises to larger and better service, and
get two or three or four, who have
been about the Masters business dur
ing the summer and are all alive with
His work, to tell their experiences.
Pick your speakers carefully. Let
your choice be determined not by
f1uency of speech and ease of manner,
but by the fact that those who are to
speak have had an experience in soul
saving and are burning with desire
to tell it. Theories as to methods of
work and eXhortations to service are
all well enough sometimes, but there
is more power to the square inch in
the Paul and Barnabas Rally Day meth-
DDS than in all the theories and elo-
quent speeches you can crowd into t4e
audience room of the meeting house.
Try it and see.
The Need of Going Away.-In order
to fully appreciate the thought of the
Home Coming. let US go back of our
text to the time of the departure of
Paul and Barnabas from Antioch on
their missionary journey. Undoubt-
edly there was a double purpose in the
Lords calling these two men to new
fields of labor. First. the needs of 9TH
ers were greater than those of the
church at Antioch, and second, the
church at Antioch had reached a con-
dition where it required the stimulus
of the Home Coming. Your going away
from home or your church ought to
be marked by the same conditions or
motives. You are going away or have
been away? If it was in response to
the call of God (and we ought never
to go anywhere or do anything except
He does call us and lead us), it was not
at any sacrifice of real duty to home
or church. If the Lord calls us away
it is because we are no longer needed
there, but have a mission to perform
elsewhere. and because, the time of
separation ended and the mission per-
formed. the home and the church
needs the inspiration and blessing of
the return home.
Christ said to His disciples: "It IS
eXpedient for you that I GO away"
Why? Because His going away meant
His return in fuller measure in the
person of the Holy Spirit. 1t was ex-
pedient for Paul and Barnabas to go
away, not alone to carry n blessing
to all the dark places they visited, but
that they might return filled with ex-
periences and lessons which would
stir the church at Antioch and inspire
to greater effort than ever before.
And not only was it needful for Paul
and Barnabas to go away to carry the
Gospel to others, but because they
were absolutely not needed any longer
at the church at Antioch and would
have been in the way of the work of
the Lord if they had remained. A
great many parents tie themselves up
in the home and a great many Chris
tian workers tie themselves up in the
church and Sunday school under the
mistaken notion that the home or the
work cannot survive their absence,
when if the leading of the Lord were
followed, they would go away for a
season to be revived and quickened and
returned home again to be a greater
blessing than ever before. Philip was
called from the great revival he had
been instrumental in starting at Sa-
maria out into the desert not alone
because he was needed to preach the
Gospel to the eunuch, but because he
was no longer needed at Samaria, and
perhaps would have spoiled a large
part of the work he had accomplished
had he remained. If there was
closer following of the leading of the
Lord to-day there would be more
journeys through the Asia Minors of
the worlds roads and less puttering
over the Lords work at the Antiochs;
there would be more live experiences
in the out of the way places, and more
Home Comings to thrill the home and |
the church with new life and new
power.
The Return-It was not until the |
work to which they had been called |
had been fulfilled, as the verse before |
our text declares that Paul and Barna- |
bas returned. They did not turn back |
at the first sign of opposition or upon |
the first hardship. They
we're driven out of Antioch in Pisidia, |
but it was only to go to Iconium and |
preach the Word. There a plot was
1atched to kill them. but nothing |
1aunted they fed to Lystra, to heal |
the impotent man. There Paul was |
stoned and nearly killed, but he was
lighting the good fight of faith and |
and gladly went back over
he route he had come confirming the |
souls of the disciples. And it was not
Until all the work God had for them |
% do Was accomplished, that they re- |