Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1921-08-04
!, IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Si11nldaySehool 3
' Lesson '
(By REV. p B. FITZWATER. D. D.,
Teacher of English Bible in the Moody
Bible Institute OF Chicago)
t@. 1921. Western Newspaper Union.)
LESSON FOR AUGUST 7
PAUL IN CYPRUS AND IN ANTI
OCH OF PlSIDIA.'

/ JuQed, ana IN anu uulO w
termost part of the earth.-Acts Is.
REFERENCE MATERIAL = Matt 10:
8-33: 2S:1s-2O; Mark 1918: Luke A:is, ~.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Adventures Of Paul
and Barnabas.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Saul Silences Sor-
| eerer.
INTERMEDIATES AND SENIOR TOPIC
Paul Begins His Missionary Travels
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Paul Becomes Missionary s y
This marks the beginning OF foreign
missions as the deliberately planned
enterprise of the church.
|. The Gifts Of the Church, at Anti
och ". -.
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
4:Y-l2 Paul says that when Christ as
cended He gave gifts unto men for the
purpose OF. f.tperfecting the saints unto
the work Of the ministry. s.
u. sarnabas and Saul Sent Forth
wv. 2, ~. Z. - =
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 eyangelizing
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
Christ's service comes from the Spirit.
The, Spirit calls and the church sec
onds the motion by sending those VINO
are called. They sent the very best
men from the church at Antioch. There
was second season Of fasting and
prayer, accompanied by the imposition
Of hands before they went forth, show
ing that ordination has its place In the
sending forth Of missionaries.
m. Preaching the Word Of God In
Cyprus (vv. 4, o..
We are not told as to why they first
went to Cyprus, but we infer that 1t
was because 1t was the home OF Bar
nabas. 1t is most natural that those
who have heard good news should 60
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
Splrit-caiIed and Spirit-hlled men
preaching Gods Word. In fact, Spirit.
filled men will preach nothing else.
w. Withstood by Elynas the sor-
cerer wv. 6-12).
When ,Barnabas and Saul by invita-.
ton were telling Sergius Paulus Of the !
Word Of God, Elymas maliciously
sought to turn his mind from the faith. ,
This is the first obstacle they encoun-
tered. This opposer 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 Lord. Surely
man Is never more of q villain than In
trying to turn soul from the gospel.
Happily, the deputy needed Sauls
teaching and believed the gospel. II
was in this connection, that Saul's
name was changed to Paul.
v. In the Synagogue at Antioch In
Pisida wv. Is, 16). -.
From Paphos Paul and Barnabas'
went northward to Perga. From
Perga they went into Antioch In Pi- r
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 t.
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. 1t consists of four parts:
u) Historical wv. 1929; apologet-
ical wv. 24-3O; t9) doctrinal, wv.
SO, 39); az practical (vv. 40, 4D. 1t
sets forth the missionary message for
all times and lands. Its essence
should eyerebe the same. In this SER
mon he presented the glorined and
risen Christ as the Savior from sin,
basing his proof upon the testimony OF
living witnesses and the inspired
Word.
vi. The Effect Of the Sermon (vv.
42-52).
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 jeal.
ousy could not long be restrained; 1t
broke out in open opposition. This
opposition was in turn answered by
Pauls rejection Of them and turning
to the Gentiles.