The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-04
WHEN RELIGION RAISED A ROW
The International Sunday-SchoOl Les
son for May 9 IS "PauI's First Mis-
siOnary Journey-Antioch Pisidia.'
Acts 13:13-52.

fobi y NAey -" AAN1
sionary Journey-Antioch Pisidia."
Acts 13:f3-52.
BY William T. Elrs.
The school of experience soon gives
pupils their proper rating. Barnabas
and Saul had set out from Antioch in
Syria to do missionary work. and
they We're classified in this order n
the story is altered. 1t is Paul and
his company" The first IA has IA,
tura1ly and inevitably risen to first
place. Here we find his name changed
from Saul to Paul. The new man
had taken on a new name. John Mafk
point, probably because he was not Of
as sturdy stuff as the leaders Of the
eXperition. and could not face the
hardsllips that were TO be endured.
Later he d to reckon with Paul IN
this account, and was really the means
of dividing the two associates. Paul
and Barnabas.
Sailing from Paphos in the Island Of
Cyprus, where the last lesson was
laid, the came to Perga, in
thence they went W to Antioch In
PiSidia,-probably one of the sixteen
AntiOchs founded by Seleucis Nikato
and named for his father. 1t must not
be COMPOUNDED with the great Antioch
in Syria. where the disciples We're first
called Christians. Why Paul did not
remain at Perga has been a subject Of
conjecture. 1t is thought that the
heat Of summer and the malaria
which infested this low-lying CITY
along the water. drove him up on to
the hig table-land where Antioch
was situated. Ramsay thinks that
the malaria which here entered Paul'S
system was his -thorn in the flesh
which he bore to the end of his life.
In n case. some consideration drove
the little band Of missionaries over the
perilOuS journey to Antioch.
A Point of Contact.
Like Jesus, Paul went to church on
the Sabbath. He identified himself
with all the best customs of his time
and community. He knew that the
~synagogues We're to be superseded,
and that the worship was bare and
faulty, and hat the preaching was
usually dry, unpalatable. and %unnutri
tiOus pabulum. Nevertheless. Jesus and
Paul went to the on the
Sabbath. They found il a point of
contact With the best agencies of their
day. They identified themselves une-
quivocally with all religious tendencies
although their own beliefs extended
quite beyond those entertained and
taught by the synagogue. This atti-
tude. which ever seeks q point Of
contact with the people whom it de-
sires to serve, is an essential qualifica-
ton in Christian work.
SO Paul and We're shown
to the rabbinical seats. and after the
reading of the Law and the
the rulers of the synagogue called on
them to speak. With the tact hat al
ways characterized him, Pauls ser
mon, or "midraiSh," as the Jews calla3
it, was based upon the passages which
had been read that morning. He re-
cited the history which the Jews never
tired Of hearing, and of course found
1T an easy oath to the story of the
Messiah who had come.
Paul was never satisfied tomake gen.
era1 propositions. His sermons always
ended in an application. He was q
Thou art the man. type Of preacher.
He left his hearers face to face with
their personal responsibility in the
case.
Stirring Il City.
1t had been many a long day since
that synagogue had heard such q
searching and sensational sermon as
was preached by the ~nexpecte
stranger on that Sabbath morning. 1t
set the Jewish community by the ears.
Whenever a genuine preacher appears
in a neighbOrhood with a clear mos
sage of conviction, the latter is bound
to make more talk h a all the adver
Using he can do. People ALWAYS have
vital, spiritual truth. Ruff II. Jones
says. In his spiritual nature. man is
incurably religious" The religion that
is related to life always get a hear
ing. As it was in PauIs day, so it is
now. y great sermon makes Itself
talked about. The members of the
synagogue entreated Paul and Barna-
bias to speak again the following Sab
bath.
The implication is that his syna-
sogue was an influential factor in the
life of Antioch. It's outreach touched
the entire city. Apparently it had to
some degree solved the ver-present
problem of making the church the
center of the communal life. 1t must
nave delighted PauiS heart to see the
way III which that was able
TO get after men in their social re;a-
tlonshlpS, so that. as the narrative
runs. Next Saba almost the whole
the word Of God"
Some Jealous Jews {
Sour. nisanthropic. ana ;p-f.,a