Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-05-05

commentator calls this simple state
ment of the preaching to the Greeks
at Antioch the climax of the Book of
the Acts 1t records in few and sim
pie words the beginning of new era.
The truth was established and sealed
by the Spirit that Christianity was no
longer for the Jews alone, but for all
the world.
In somewhat of a panic. the Jeru-
salem leaders sent their star preacher
Barnabas down to Antioch to set the
Christians straight, and to safeguard
their orthodoxy. But Barnabas was
bigger than his mission. He saw that
the hand of the Lord was with Antioch
Christians. and he was glad. No
heresy-hunting for him among men
who showed the Spirit of Christ His
religion was so vital that he recognized
the real test of discipleship. Would
that the Barnabas spirit might domi-
nate the great religious meeting OF
this month of May. some of which are
perturbed over heresies and ecclesi-
astical procedure. 1t is the spirit of
Christ and the works of Christ that
mark the disciple of Christ. This is
the one and only test. If Christ has
sealed a man or cause, no church
can unseal 1t.
There is a beautiful portrait of Bar
nabas in this lesson, a miniature that
belongs high in the gallery of the
heroes of faith: For he was a good
man and was full of the Holy Spirit
and of faith" No wonder that the
Record continues, And the number
of believers in the Lord greatly in
creased"
: \ Churchman With City Sense
1t is part of my duty to watch the
trend of the times, especially in re-
ligion: and to study the strength and
weakness of organized Christianity.
do not hesitate to say, unequivocally,
Oh this appropriate occasion. that the
need of needs of the Christian Church
in the year 1916, excepting only the
need for a baptism of the Holy Spirit,
is the need for more Barnabases-
leaders who are big enough TO meet
strategy. The Church's case cries
aloud for leadership with city sense,
and with a nation sense.
We suffer more from the smallness
of the saints than from the bigness of
the sinners. We are not thinking in
large enough terms; for where we
should look for great national leaders
we find chiefly ecclesiastical politicians,
stepping softly about their own con-
Germs. Place-holders, place-seekers
and partisans are easier to find than
self-effacing men of vision who know
the greatness of the hour and the diff
culties of the task. Only the Barnabas
spirit, which put aside all preconcep-
tions and all self-interest, and dared
to do heroically the thing that the oc-
casion called for will serve us in this
destiny-laden day.
Man for a Big City
What Barnabas found in Antioch
sent him posting off to Tarsus for Saul.
He knew his own limitations. The
great man is one who understands
how to use other men. Conditions in
Antioch called for the gifts peculiar TO
Saul. So Barnabas got him, and they
had q great revival that lasted for a
year. and that has left its impress
upon the Christian Church down to
this very hour.
If Antioch had needed a Billy Sun
day. or a Graham Taylor. or a John r.
Mott, or a Charles StelZle, Barnabas
would have sought him out. He had
no preconceived notions that made
him try to thrust the new life of the
Antioch Church into the iron mold of
his own prejudices. He wanted to
meet the city's spiritual needs. If city
wide cottage prayer meetings could do
this. or a tabernacle evangelistic cam
paign. or an industrial or social cru
sade. Barnabas would not have hesi-
tated. If Sunday night services in a
theater would draw men who would
not go to the synagogue, TO the theater
Saul and Barnabas would go. TT a
union service of city churches in the
Auditorium would meet a special need
Barnabas would have provided 1t. II
a mastery publicity presentation in
the city press was the most useful me-
dunn for carrying the Message. we
may he sure that Barnabas would have
found the money for that. Did 1t seem
as If the people would be more re-
II. n 49,
presentation of the Gospel than any
thing else? Then Barnabas would
have called in the Charles NJ. Alex
ander of his day. Whatever would