Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-05-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
lesson in the international series
fer May 4, 19O&rhe Church
at Antioch.
THE LESSON TEXT.
EAofS II.ToMN

THE LESSON TEXT.
(Acts I1:1s-S0)
-. Nov they which were scattered
abroad upon the persecution that arose
about Stephen Travelled as far as Phenlces
and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching tue
Eerd to none but unto the Jews only.
%. And some of them we're men OF Cy-
prus and Cyrene, which, when they were
come to Antioch, spake unto the GrecianE.
preaching the Lord Jesus
q. And the hand of the Lord was with
them; and great number believed, ana
turned unto the Lord.
q. Then tidings of these things came
unto the ears Of the church which was in
Jerusalem; and they sent forth Barnabasp
that he should go as far as Antioch.
q. Who, when He came. and had seen
the grace of God. was glad, and exhorted
them all. that with purpose of heart they
would cleaVe unto the Lord
p. For he was a good man. and full Of the
Holy Ghost and of faith; and much people
was added unto the Lord.
2. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus,
for to seek Saul:
g. And when he had found him, he
brought him unto Antioch. And it came
to pass, that a whole year they assembled
themselves with the church, and taught
much people. And the disciples were called
Christians first in Antioch.
q. And in these days came prophets from
Jerusalem unto Antioch.
q. And there stood up one OF them named
Agabus. and signifed by the spirit that
all the world; which came to pass In the
days of Claudius Caesar.
q. Then the disciples, every man accord
ing to his ability, determined to send re-
lief unto the brethren which dWelt In
Judea:
50. Which also they did. and sent 1t to the.
GOLDEN TEXT.-And the hand OF.
the Lord was with them; and a great
number believed, and turned unto
the LOrd.-Acts HI 21.
| OUTLINE OF SCRIPTTTR Al. SECTION
Many conversions. n:19-A
Barnabas and Saul. n:25-2s.
Prophecy of famine 11:27-S0.
Time.-A. D. Al and As.
Place.-Antioch, capital of Syria.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
| Church Expansion.-It was impos-
sible to confine the church within Ju-
daistic lines. AS we have seen, the
leaders were not ready to preach this
| 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 Conversions-Proba 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 to Jews was natural.
| Perhaps news of Peters visit to Cor
nelius reached them before they be-
gan preaching to the Gentiles in An
tioch; perhaps they acted under the
| direct impulse of the Holy Spirit. 1t 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 it 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
as the commissioner of the mother
church showed disposition to be fair.
He was probably the most influential
unofficial member of the church in
Jerusalem; he was a man of great
generosity and iberality; he had dis
tinguished himself by large giving
(4:36, 80 and by aiding Saul when
others looked askance at him (9:27).
The work met the test, and Barnabas
was so pleased and interested that he
did not return to Jerusalem at all ex-
cept perhaps to make q 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,
but he was ready to work in Antioch.
The name Christian is of heather ORR
gin and was probably meant as witt
cism The word occurs only three
times in the New Testament, and al
ways in such connection as to show
that it 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 cover all the world
in the days of Claudius, but that en-
peror had an almost constant battle
with famine in different parts of his
sminion, at one time himself suffer
ing from the difficulty of obtaining
food. The famines that especially af-
fected Jerusalem were in A. D. 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
to proclaim it.
The work of exangeIization should
not be done by the few, but by the
many-by the rank and file.
good man will always rejoice in
seeing work of grace whether it ac-
cords with his training or not.
If one decides to serve the Lord, let
it be with purpose of heart
POPULAR SCIENCE.