Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-29

1
Our interest in missions is test OF
our Christianity. Although Jesus had
made clear His program to His disciples,
the conservative spirit Of Jerusalem APP
! parently hindered. the mother church
undertaking any missionary work
I Following Stephens death, which grew
out of his advocating that the gospel
provided q salvation for all mankind
the members Of the church were scat
tered. Among those who fed from
Jerusalem were certain HellenistS, who
were natives of Cyprus and Cyrene.
These men upon reaching Antioch, one
Of the leading commercial centers OF
that time, commenced to preach the
gospel to the gentiles. There was q
large Jewish population in Antioch,
because Selucus had granted them
equal rights with the Greeks. Its
population was about 100000. It was
considered to rank third in Importance
In the Roman Empire, being surpassed
by Rome and Alexandria. When some
of these laymen without any eccleSiasti-
cal authority spoke to the Greeks the
success Of their effort proved beyond
accompanied their preaching.
When the news that "a great number
that believed turned unto the Lord
reached Jerusalem, evidently the con-
servative element was alarmed. One
man was well thought of by all classes,
Barnabas, the Levite, who had sold hts
estate In Cyprus and donated the pro-
ceeds to the church to help care for
the poor. It was his tactfulness and
courage In sponsoring Saul, whose name
filled the apostles and the other leaders
with fear, that saved him for the church
Barnabas may have known Saul during
hal e&x Ta fVt
heard his story Of his conversion and
vouched for the genuineness of Sauls
experience to the church. When Bar
nabas reached Antioch he saw HS
need of q helper and went to TarsuA
where he found Saul. He persuaded
him to join him as a minister Of the
gospel to head up the new movement
among the gentiles in Antioch, where
the followers of the Lord Jesus were
Saul enjoyed their ministry. which
helped make the first gentle church
one Of the foremost In all history.
Missionary Work Started.
Barnabas and Saul had returned
from carrying the generous gifts of
this gentle church to help aid the
poor in the Jerusalem church, accompa-
MED by John Mark, when the Holy Spirit
MADE clear 10 the A4LlOCu CHURCH that
they should open up missionary work.
The five ministers represented five DIFF
ferent countries. The spiritual and
scholarly character of these leaders
would never had made the Antioch
church great If the Holy Spirit had not
been honored and His leadership fol-
lowed by the membership. Under
Gods leadership they inaugurated the
missionary enterprise which planted
the standard Of the cross in every lead
ing city OF the Roman Empire and over
turned the paganisn that for centuries
had controlled the heather population
in the civilized world.
The missionary movement was born
in prayer. just as modern missions
grew out Of the haystack prayer meet
ing Of q group Of William College stu
dents, so the first organized effort to
send the gospel to the regions beyond
was born In a prayer meeting Of the
Antioch church. Prayer always pre-
cedes any advance made In the King
dom Of God. It makes us receptive so
that we can hear and be willing to obey
the voice Of our Lord. Before he was
born Saul knew that he had been
chosen Of God to be missionary.
When he was converted Saul was in
formed that he was to be an anbassa-
dor of the Christ to carry His message
to the gentiles. The Holy Spirit made