Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-05-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the international SERIES
xOE May Is, 1s02-The Early
Christian Missionaries.
THE LESSON TEXT.
fhnAn H2nIQ


(Acts 121-12.)
/ Now there were in the church that WAS
at Antioch certain prophets and teacnersS
as Barnabus. and Simeon that was caIiee
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen-
which had been brought up with Aeroo lhS
tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministereo TO the AoLu' anu ~
tasted the Holy Ghost saids Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work WneFe-
unto have called them.
s. And when they had tasted and prayed.
and laid their hands on them, they sem
them away.
4. So they, being sent forth by the Holy
Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from
thence they sailed to Cyprus.
3 And when they were at Salamls, tney
| preached the word of God in the syna-
gogues of the Jews; and they had also John
| to their minister.
6. And when they had gone through the
Isle unto Paphos, they found certain
sorcerer. a false prophet, jew whose
name was BarjeSuS:
| 7. which was with the deputy OF the
country. Sergius Paulus, prudent man.
| who called for Barnabas and SAUL ana &C.
! sired to hear the word of God.
8. But Elymas the sorcerer for so is his
| name by interpretation wfthstood them
seeking to turn away the deputy from the
3. Then SAUL (who also is called Paul)
| filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on
| him
mischief thou child of the devil, thou enc
my of all righteousness, wilt thou not
| cease to pervert the right ways OF the IordI
| IL And now behold, the hand of the LORD
| Is upon thee, and thou shalt be pIlno' not
| seeing the sun for a season. ana lm1ne-
diately there fell on him mist and
| darkness; and he went about seeking some
| to lead him by the hand.
r. Then the deputy, when he saw what
was done, believed, being astonished at
the doctrine of the Lord.
| GOLDEN TEXT.-GO ye, therefore,
/ 81.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
| Ordaining of missionaries. .....Acts 1871 8.
| Conflict with Elymas.. 1S:4-l2
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, it
grapples with the duty of preaching
to the whole world. We begin what
may be called Part III of the Book
of Acts, Part (i-v) being concerned
with the founding of the church.
Part II (vi-xii} with its growth and
the rest with its missionary work.
Two Missionaries Ordained.--The
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 a 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 a 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
|
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
touched (1:19) The work of John
| (MarI) was not assistance in
preaching, but what would in mod
| 7
ment. The service of an attendant
was also included in his work to
some extent. Magi or sorcerers had
great deal of influence and often
obtained the favor of prominent and
wealthy men. The imposter whom
the missionaries found with Sergius
| Paulus, being jew, was more guilty
| in this practice than many others.
The phrase "man 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 EIymas seems to have
been a turning point for Paul. Be-
fore that Barnabas was always men
toned first; afterwards, Paul is al
ways put first and was the leader.
The judgment on Elymas was spec
tacular and convincing, and its JUS
tiGe 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