The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-17
Exposition Of the
Sabbath School Lesson
FOR MAY 25,sl9O2
Copyright 1902, BY John R. Whitney.
Paul Mt Antioch In Pisidia-Acts XIII.

+ l... : n
Paul mt Antioch in Pisidia-Acts XIII.
1859.
Golden Text-Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness Of sins.--Acts,
kill, 38.
When Jerusalem was the center from which.
an gospel Influences must 60 forth the dis,
by the Holy Ghost to do so. And yet they
went everywhere preaching the word" will,
eave he %as however as the young eaglete
nest itself becomes cramped and uncomfort-
abe able as they grow in size and strength. But
eagle stirreth up her nest, tuttereth over her
young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh
them, beareth them on her wings. SO the Lord
and used them for his own purposes, and they
did willingly and faithfully what they had
IN themselves no special desire or intention
to do. But it was from a force, and from
conditions altogether outside Of themselves.
They simply commended the gospel wherever
the providence of God called them, by what
they we're ahr than BY What Sgst did, and
work OF many since then has been done in
the same manner. ys
~, When he Antioch, however became the center,
guided by the Holy Ghost, they did the same
themselves. No threatened suffering from
without inclined them to leave the city, but
there would have been great suffering from
any audible call from others for their minis
try. as Cornelius sent for Peter. But they
themselves now felt that what they had re-
Wh the Opening o hsy anssr Of G wo
their hearts were open to feel the power of
new and larger motive Many, since then :
work has been blessed by the Holy Ghost.
When the Church at Antioch was directed
by the Holy Ghost to send out men "for the
work whereunto'' he had called them" he
p. Barnabas, as the elder of the two, was
recognized as the leader of the company. But
when they left .Paphos the narrative almost
r r the order. and speaks of Paul and
Barnabas,' excepting where recognition Of
age is apparently demanded by the circum-
stances, as at Lystra xiv, 12-14, and at the
left Paphos as Paul and his company ".
13). and not as ''Barnabas and Saul" Paul
had become the leeder, and impressed his
spirit upon all that was afterwards done,
1t Is also important to notice that with this
first missionary journey, the second section
Of The Acts Of the Apostles begins. From
henceforth we will find that a special en-
Rhasis is given to- .'the.word of Cod or the
Sacred Scriptures y The work of the Holy
Ghost is by no means ignored. but from this
time it is not brought, so prominently into
view, as is the instrument by which he made
the ministry of the disciples so effective.
How long Paul and Barnabas remained in
Paphos after the conversion of sergius
formed as to what decided their future
course. But to the northwest on the main
Land lay the province of Pamphylia:- It ad-
Joined that of Cilicia, in which st. Paul was
born, and in which he had already preached
the gospel and established churches XIV, 40.
1t thus naturally offered peculiar attractions
to them and taking advantage of coasting
vessel Sailing in that direction, a Journey OF
Its miles brought them into the beautiful bay
of Alfalfa, Probably, however, the vessel did
~tO 1st, "A t+1lso k,,,% s1o1
the river Isestrus about six miles, until it
came to Perga.
There, we are told that John departed
10, R. W II: he made known his desire to do
this at Paphos-which he probably did-we
have at once independently of its natural at
to Pamphylia. For in the harbor. Of Alfalfa
on it's coast there would be no difficulty in
securing a vessel for any port in Syria that
might be desired Why John desired to re-
however, has always been busy in devising
reasons, most of which are not to his credit.
The most charitable conclusion-and probably
is to suppose that the claims of his aged and
widowed mother had by this time impressed
themselves upon him with imperative force.
in Perga was probably just the warm
weather Of summer was beginning to drive
the inhabitants from the hot plains up in to
the cooler regions of the mountains. So.
''passing through from Perga'' ". IA, r. W
Paul and Barnabas went almost due north
up the mountain side until they came to.
Antioch in Pisidis Mhe distance dist nee was about
dangerous. For the wild mountain crags
were infested with bandits and the mountain
streams often suddenly became torrents which
On reaching the summit of the mountain
range, vast tableland stretched out before
them. On this plain stood the city OF Antioch:
near a beautiful mountain Jake. 1t was at
this time a. Roman "COlOnia,'
AS devout Jews, Paul and Barnabas went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and
and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue
rem, if ye Have any word of exhortation for
the people say on" CIV. 14-15.)
Paul, and they listened with ,rapt attention
to all he had to say Evidently 1t produced
"a very deep impression upon them. AS CON
sequence Of the interest. awakened, on "the
next Sabbath day came almost the whole city
together to hear the word Of God" ". Az. :.
This address of st. Paul is the only one Of
gentiles which is reported to us with any
degree of fulness, and yet the report Is only
an abstract. It was addressed to mixed
multitude OF devout Jews, careless Romans.
Intelligent Greeks and rude mountaineers. 1t
addressed them all, however, as standing on
one common level, as men needing to know
God.
In It's main outline 1t was very similar to
that of Stephen before the Sanhedrin, an adj
dress which was probably never forgotten by
Paul. AS Stephen showed from the history
OF the Jews as recorded in their sacred scrip
lures, that 1.-THE promises Of God to abraham ar:
had all been fulfilled in 'the coming Of the
Just One Of whom" he said. I'VE have e, been
the betrayers and murderers'' (vii.. 52), SO
Paul, tracing that history IN the same word
of Cod from the Exodus to the reign of King
David, showed that "of this mans seed hath
God, according to his promise. raised unto
Israel a Savior, Jesus" " 2s):.
g Then. he went on to tell how his coming had
been announced by John the Baptist as that
One whose: shoes" he was net worthy to
loose %@ how God raised al him from the
days of them which came up with him from
Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses
unto the people ". 3D.. This was his argu-
rnent.
Then he. made its application; Through
Of the seed Of David according to the flesh;
who was declared to be the Son Of God b. by
Man Man is Preached unto you the forgiveness Of
sins; and by him all that believe are justi-
be justified by the.law Of Moses" ": v. $500.
justification before God was, therefore, to be
had by what One Man had done for all other
men.
tifcation BY Faith. It was an epitome of his
mastery argument in his ''Epistle to the
Romans and in his, letter to these same
people, his "Epistle to the Galatians 1t
man should be Judged, whether he were a
Roman soldier, or a Greek scholar, or a de-
vout Jew, or an ignorant and superstitious
1eathen. It declared that every demand Of
been met by him who was both the son Of
man and the son of God. Therefore the
record is. '.all that believe how cpmpre-
81; ~, rrococe iuatifind hou,