Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-07-02

THE BEGINNING OF FOREIGN
MISSIONS

! LESSON fTExT-Acts 13:1-12.
GOLDEN TExT-And He said unto
! them. Go we into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature
! Mark 1915
Foreign Missionaries.
! JUNIOR TOPIC-How Foreign Mis-
sions Began
| INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
4 IC-The Beginning of Foreign Mis-
sions.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT ToP-
IC-The Holy Spirit in Foreign Mis-
sions.
/. The Gifts of the Church at An
tioch (v.D.
Young as Antioch, the new religious
center was, she had prophets and
teachers. IN Eph. 4:S-12 Paul declares
that when Christ assembled He gave
gifts to men for the purpose of per-
fecting the saints unto the work of
fhe ministry This shows that the
church does not exist for itself, but
for service to others Christ, the
head of the church came not to be
ministered to, but to minister and
give His life ransom for many
(Matt. 20 :28).
H. Barnabas and saul Sent Forth
tvv. 2-5).
Thee were the first foreign mis-
sionaries sent out. While the five
ministers were praying and fasting,
the Spirit of God commanded them to
send forth Barnabas and Saul. The
work IF evangelizing the world wa.
laid SO heavily upon these men that
they refrained from eating 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 rel call to Chrie S service comes
from the Spirit The Spirit called
and the church seconded the motion
by sending those who were called by
Him The church should be constant
ly seeking the mind Of the Spirit rela-
tive to the sending forth of Iabofers
into the vineyard. The Spirit called
and the church sent the very best
men from the church at Antioch.
These men seem 60 have been ready
to so for they rendered instant obedi-
ence. This should be our attitude to-
ward the Lords work, holding our
selves in readiness for the immedi-
ate execution of His commission.
Those who have received the Spirits
cal are rot taken by surprise when
the church sets them forward to their
specific work.
III. Preaching the Word of God in
Cyprus (yy 4-5).
We are not told as to why they first
went to Cyprus, but we are left to in
fer that it was owing to the fact that
it was the home of Barnabas. He was
acquainted with the country and peo-
pie, and could thus be assured of
respectable hearing among tsem. Be
sides it is most natural that those who
have heard the good news to go with
ii first to their kindred and friends.
Andrew first went TO his brother, and
the man out of whom the demons
were cast was denied the pleasure of
his request to follow Jesus Christ
commanded him to go home and tell
what great things the Lord had done
for him duke S:39) AS they went
forth they carefully carried out their
commission for they preached the
Word of God, not cnrent history
philosophy, ethics, etc. Those who are
faithful to God will never preach any
thing but His Word The great need
today is Spirit called, Spirit-flled men
preaching Gods Word. In fact Spirit
filed men will preach nothing else
The opposer of God and Christ can
; only be successfully met by this
means.
~. Wthstood by Elymas, the Sor-
cerer wv. 6-12)
Sergius Paulus, the deputy, invited
Barnabas and Saul to tell him of the
Word of God. Elymas maliciously
sought to turn his mind from the
faith. This is the first obstacle they
encountered, but it was overcome
through the power of the Spirit. This
opposer is the sam" one who came to
Adam in the garden of Eden, and
Jesus in the wilderness. He is the
enemy of. God and man. He now
sought to bar the gospel as it entered
upon it's career of the conversion OF
the heather. Paul denounced him in
the most scathing terms. He called
him the child of the devil denounced
him as full of guile and villainy, pro
nouncing him the enemy Of all
righteousness, accusing him of per
verting the right ways Of the LoiM
Surely a man is never more q a viii. l