Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1921-08-05


GOLDEN TExT-Ye shall be Witnesses
unto me both In Jerusalem, and in all
Judea. and in Samaria. and unto the ut
termost part OF the earth.-Acts 1:s.
REFERENCE MATERIAL - Matt Il:
31-33; 2s:1s-2o; Mark 1915; Luke A:46, 81.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Adventures OF Paul
and Barnabas
JUNIOR TOPIC-Saul Silences Sor-
eerer.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Paul Begins His Missionary Travels.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Paul Becomes a Missionary.
This marks the beginning OF foreign
missions as the deliberately planned
enterprise of the church.
!. The Gifts Of the Church at Anti
och ". u.
Young as Antioch, the new religious
center, was, she had prophets and
teachers. Such are essential to church
life. indeed, they are never absent
from the true church. In Ephesians
1872 Paul says that when Christ as
cended He gave gifts unto men for the
purpose Of perfecting the saints unto
the work of the ministry.
u. 1arnabas and Saul Sent Forth
(vv. z. 81.
While the five ministers were pray
ing and fasting, the Spirit of God COM
manded them to send forth Barnabas
and Saul. The work of evangelizing
the world was laid so heavily upon
these men that they refrained from eat
ing in order to seek the will Of the
Lord In prayer, This is the kind OF
fasting that meets Gods approval
From the fact that they were directed
to send forth those whom the Spirit
called. we learn that the real call to
Cnrist's service comes from the Spirit
The Spirit calls and the church sec
onds the motion by sending those who
are called. Ihey sent the very besr
men from the church at Antioch.
~. Preaching the Word Of God In
Cyprus tvv. A, 81.
We are not told as to why they first
went to Cyprus, but we infer that 1t
was because it was the home OF Bar
nabas. 1t Is most natural that those
who have heard good news should go
with 1T first to their kindred and
friends. AS they went forth they
preached the Word of God not civic
righteousness, current history, philoso-
ply, etc. The great need today Is
Spirit-called and Spirit-filled men
preaching Gods Word.
w. Withstood by Eiynas the sor-
cerer tvv. 6-12).
When Barnabas and Saul by invita-
ton were telling Sergius Paulus of the
Word Of God, Elymas maliciousiy
sought to turn his mind from the faith.
This is the first obstacle they encoun-
tered. This 0pposer Is the same one
who came to Adam In Eden and to
Jesus in the wilderness. He is the
enemy Of God and man. He now seeks
to bar the gospel as 1t enters upon its
career of the conversion OF the hea-
then. Saul denounced him In the most
scathing terms, calling him the child OF
the devil, full OF guile and villainy, and
pronounced him the enemy OF all right
eousness, accusing him of perverting
the right ways OF the Lard.
Happily, the deputy needed Saul's
teaching and believed the gospel. IL
was In this connection that Saul's
name was changed to Paul.
V. In the Synagogue at Antioch In
Pisidia (vv. Is. 16).
From Paphos Paul and Barnabas
went northward to Perga. From
Perga they went into Antioch in Pr
sidia. where they entered the syna-
gogue on the Sabbath day. Though
he was sent to the Gentiles he does
not depart from the order of begin
ming with the Jews. After the usual
reading of the Scriptures. upon the
invitation of the rulers, Paul deliv-
cred the discourse recorded in verses
17-41. This sermon is worthy Of care
full study. II consists of four parts:
(1) Historical (vv. 1929; apologet-
ical (vv. 24-37): (3) doctrinal, (vv.
80. 800: az practical (vv. 40, Az. It
sets forth the missionary message for
all times and lands. Its essence
should ever be the same. In this SER
mon he presented the glorified and
risen Christ as the Savior from sin.
basing his proof upon the testimony or
living witnesses and the inspired
Word.
VI. The Effect Of the Sermon (vv.e
l2-52).
Many of the Jews and proselytes
requested them to speak to them
again. Almost the whole city came
to hear the Word of God the next
Sabbath. This great crowd melted
the jealousy of the Jews. This jeaI-
ousy could not long be restrained; ~
broke out In open opposition. This
opposition was In turn answered by
ySu,xlso votoc<fnu - xhorn end kurnaw~