The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-05-16

II And now. behold, the hand OF the Loro
Is upon thee, and thou snait De oiinu ~
seeing the sun for season. ana llli,ne.
diately there fell on him mist anu
darkness; and he went ABOUT seeh-Hs soine
to lead him by the hand.
-. Then the deputy when he saw Wnat
was DONE believed. being astonlsheu a.
the doctrine of the LORD.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Go We, therefore
and teach all nations.--Matt. IS; H.
OUTLINE OF sCRIPTURAL SECTION.
Ordaiping of missionaries. ...Acts IS:i- D.
Conflict with Elymas. lo.4-lS'
TIME.-A. d. As.
PLACE.-Antioch and Paphos.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
A Missionary Church.-The church
has indeed preached the Gospel IN
Samaria and in other places outside
of Jerusalem, but it was because the
disciples were driven there by perse-
cution. Now, for the first time, 1t
grapples with the duty of preaching
to the whole world. We begin what
may be called Part III OF the BOOK
of Acts, Part 1 G-v) being concerned
with the founding of the church.
Part III (vi-xii) with it's growth and
the rest with it's missionary work.
Two Missionaries Ordained.-Ihe
prophets and teachers" of the
church in Antioch were all Jews. we
know nothing more about Symeon,
Lucius and Manaen than their names.
The movement outward was probably
planned by the church, and the FAST
ing and prayer were for guidance in
the matter. The two missionaries
were important to the church. Barn
abas had been leader ever since
the church was fairly organized, and
Saul had joined him soon after his
arrival. The sending of Barnabas
and Saul was the first organized mis-
sionary effort of church. Hitherto
all disciples had done what they
could within their own reach. Now
they acted together to send men
where, without such sending, none of
them would have gone. The new
step was so important that the mis-
sionaries received ordination from
the church (not from the apostles)
for this special work.
Conflict with Elymas.-Notice the
similarity in form of the first clause
of verse and the last clause of verse
3. Luke felt that God and man were
working together in the sending of
these missionaries. Seleucia is the
seaport of Antioch; Salamis the
point on the eastern coast of Cyprus
where the missionaries landed; Pa
phos, the capital of the island, on its
western coast. Cyprus was not a
field that had been entirely I'M
touched (11:1O. The work of John
MARK was not assistance in
preaching, but what would in mod
ern times be called business manage
ment. The service of an attendant
was also included in his work to
some extent. Magi or sorcerers had
a great deal of influence and often
obtained the favor of prominent and
wealthy men. The imposter whom
the missionaries found with Sergius
Paulus, being a Jew, was more guilty
in this practice than many others.
The phrase imam of understanding"
seems to imply a disposition to in
vestigate various teachings. The
change of Saul's name, noted in verse
9, was merely the adoption of his
Roman name instead of his Hebrew.
It's use may have been suggested by
the fact that the proconsul bore it
also, but Paul must soon have be-
gun to use it when he travelled
among and preached to Gentiles.
The rebuke of Elymas seems to have
been a turning point for Paul. Be-
toned first; afterwards, Paul is al
ways put first and was the leader.
The Judgment on Elymas was spec
tacular and convincing, and it's JUS
tice could not be denied.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
The Holy Spirit will be likely to
speak to a church that is devoutly
ministering to the Lord.
The Holy Spirit is still calling for
disciples to do missionary service
among the heather.
The Holy Spirit calls those disci-
pies to preach to the heather who
are best fitted for the work.
The Holy Spirit endows those
whom He calls with His own power
so that they can triumph over oppo'
sition.
If the Holy Spirit has called you
to special work, let nothing stand
in the way of your taking it up.
To reach the porr of Heaven we must
sail sometimes with the wind and
sometimes against it. But we must