The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-10
Exposition Of the
Sabbath EchooiLesson
MAY 10, 1909
!" Copyright 1902. by John R. Whitney.

| I
MAY ls, 1902
! Y. Copyright 1902. by. John r. Whitney.
The Early Christian Missionaries
Acts XIII. s1-12.
Golden Text Go We, therefore. and teach
all nations.--Matt. xviii, 10.
All history Is simply the record OF how God
carries out his purposes on the earth, and
writes ms name on every event OF time, ig-
world and Of every Individual life becomes an
unmeaning account Of failures and successes
pose. The presence, OF his hand has reen
i very evident in the progress Of the gospel as
It has come before us in our recent lessons It
to come. For it is very clear that not a.sin-
gle event in the sacred narrative is the result
OF any plan of men,.
Very naturally, the gospel message was first
proclaimed in jerusalem. But it could not
stay there. So. as we have already seen. by
ter was formed at Antioch. where Jew and
Gentle stood on one common footing.
In that church at Antioch there were Ger
toned by name. There probably were others
whose names n are not mentioned Those who
an weFs %
cts" and teachers" applied to them, how
ever, probably does not designate positions
rank "a to the other but simply ssheres and
methods OF labor. S The one refers to the
public exposition of the word before the null
titude; the other to it's exposition to lndlVld-
! uais and from house to house, as Paul did
at Bphesus xx.. 20): Each one OF these s hve
might therefore be and probably st vas IS
: with US the pastor in the pulpit often teaches
- class In the Sunday school.
know compa1 atively but very little, and that
little is not OF much Importance at the pres.
ent time It is very evident however n'a that
. their occoupatons-their training-their sopin-
q ions--and their characters. Barnabas was q
but filling the position Of a Levite in the
j. Temple service at Jerusalem. Simeon was a
mysterious man, Of unknown residence and
Jew from Northern Africa. Manaens was a
Roman Jew brought up in the kings court.
p tenseiy devout Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia.
; Now they had been very strangely brought to-
gether, and were sitting in blessed fellowship
Ii AS God's hand had evidently guided their
steps to this place, SO now his voice was heard ar
was ens 70 %na n Hey y Ghos
). came to them .as they ministered'-or,
deep religious interest, and The one great e
burden on every heart apparently Vas nov w
:, made known to othefss NOW tie Holy Ghost
answered this prayer of their hearts by say
J. ing. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the
= work whereunto have called them" ". a.
/. Leaving Antioch Journey Of about sixteen
! miles brought them to Selucia, the seaport OF
); can, at the mouth of the Orontes, and had a
splendid harbor. There they took vessel TOR
salamis near the eastern end Of the , island
far west from the mainland as the island Of
:. the journey from seiucia to salamis was not
e quite as great as. from philadelphia to Wash
;; dred and forty miles long, and at the widest
); place was not more than forty to fifty miles ii
= across. It was Roman PROVINCE ga. at this this
e. rich in mineral wealth,
y Soon after the Emperor Augustus ascend ed
the throne he dvdsd the Roman
le power to govern them were called imperial
rs provinces; those not requiring the presence
Of soldiers Under Of the
IN 'propraetors, y the senatorial by pro. con
2, deputies At first Cyprus was an "impe
that 3 St Luke a pat st ats
Investigations, and particularly coins fount
o. Q. in the island, shows that it had afterwards
senate, and at this time was actually governed
Paulus In the Revised Version he is c e.;
II Intelligent (Young) man" Verse 2. and re
sided at Paphos, the seat of the abominab
worship Of Venus It was the eh,Hf Gity wa
II
apart IT, with good Fennan road between: .
g When Barnabas and Saul arrived at thi
r; place 0 and began to preach as they had don
ed at Salamis, they were met by "a certain sor
cerer-a false prophst-a Jew whose name az e. wa a
I'd Of such adventurers who overran every coun
try at this time, persuading supersttious an
~ uneasy men to believe. as Simon Magus ma
IS, done the people of Samaria, that they Wer
ms ms indeed 1.-THE great power of Cod e Ky.
Although be had by his arts and Is speech ,sss
"A Sergius Paulus, It is, evident that his teach
nd ings did not fully satisfy the longings OF the
official So when Barnabas and Saul bega
I'll, their work in Paphos, he sent for them
ag, very much the same spirit that Cornelius ser
for Peter, but without az much light, an
desired to ear the So Critical perod IN
s.. history It is the critical period IN eyer eve
mans history. For as long as he is Statistic i e
ng with the words OF men, ne can nvVG desra
ap. r. know what God says in his word-abo.
y, himself, and about the sinner-then there WI
surely spring light in n Pamus Acceptn
the truth which they taught, his spiritual eye
ng, we're at once opened. Rejecting ana oPpos;ln
az we'll as spiritual blindness, and 'WeI
about seeking some to ieao MN ny Tue hano
". 1D. r. ona .+r
u SAVIOR of life unto life," and to another 1t
"the SAVIOR OF death unto death" Ql Cor. II
9er 49, The same whd T far aWag It depent
lis aitoeather upon how the helm is set. Tn;
ems helm in man is the will IF any man WI
the he can: turn his vessel so as TO :catcn vi
me breezes of the spirit. and be waited into u
heavenly port. Yet it is not the helm Wnle
drives the ship forward-neither is IT the ga
but the wind, 81 for as many as are leu
fth the spirit Of God, they are the SONS OF goa
RS, (Rom., viii, 14) -. :,
From this time. the name OF . saul IN IN III u
:. : narrative is changed. He is no longer know
~ as '.Saul Of Tarsus," but ne always ca,
9ll-- himself and is known to others, by u u
name of "Paul" Many have supposed IN
This change Of name was due to the Wlnnll
of this Proconsul to the cause OF Chr1st.
I'D, memorial of a signal spiritual victory; bus
oh shows that this not at all likely The cnan
81 in all probability, would now nave Decon
p pofnpp een .'sergius Paulus.'' For it is mo
: than probable that at his CIRCUMCISION, "n'
+: = he, was eight days DID, Saul received, as Y
ng; common with others, two names anu ~
cal father being a1"free" Roman citizen was IN
Of caIled after the Latin form-SauIus-Pa
the one name being Hebrew, ana alter u !!
n name OF the first king OF lsrael T. SAN -
- =: | i -2)-and the other Roman, from scme CO.
W nection of his ancestors with some memDeT
!. i the Roman family Of the Aemlllan fauh
"A (Conybeare and Howson).
Besides. it is to be noticed that tnls cnan|
Of name is not spoken Of as If Determined ed
any connection with Sergius Paulus, Tor
ia not said that henceforth Saul was 10
~; called Paul, but, as Il the change had airest
Ia Ia taken place, it is, saul who IS also eau
paul, ". g. V.)-called Paul at the TIN
when he became acquainted win Inc Pr
consul--the sis also referring 70 an exls
AXE ing fact, and not to future one. aa,,,
:" Probably, as "the disciples were call y