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April 21, 1909. * THE PRESBYTERH
Sunday School
PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY?CYPRUS.
Acts 13: 1-12.
Lesson for May 2, 1909.
GOLDEN TEXT.?"Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature."?Mark 16: 15.
DAILY HOME READINGS.
M.?Acts 13: 1-12. T.?Isa. 6: 1-8.
W.?Isa. 40: 1-11. Th?Rom. 10: 6-17.
F.?Luke 10: 1-11. S.?-Deut. 18: 9-14.
S?1 Cor. 1: 12-24.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
The First Foreign Missionaries?
Sent forth by the Spirit, vs. 1-3.
Their first field of labor, vs. 4, 5.
A notable convert, vs. 7? 12.
Ely mas struck blind, vs. C, 8-11.
LESSON COMMENTS.
There were five men in Antioch who were leaders in tho
work of Hie church there. The majority of these, and probably
all of them, caine *o Antioch on account of the gospel, and
were in a sense nou-residents. They were called "prophets
and teachers." These terms doubtless had at that time no
very accurately defined meaning. The prophet was a teacher,
and the teacher was a prophet when he spoke by special,
uivine inspiration. The difference between prophecy and
preaching is that the former is the utterance of a specially
inspired message.
Of these five men who were directing the affairs of the
church at Antioch. little is known excent Rarnahas and Saul
They were all Jews.
"As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted" is a statement
implying some religious service in which they
were jointly engaged. Probably they were met to "consider
the question of sending out missionaries. Up
to this time Jerusalem was the base from which these had
gone. And so far as we know they had gone under the
scattering force of persecution, or each on his own motion,
except as lhey were sent, like Peter and John, to Samaria,
to investigate work already inaugurated. The leaders of the
church were bound sooner or later to discuss some more
organized methods of propagating the Gospel.
"The Koly Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for
the work whereunto I have called them." We are not told in
vuai manner me message was given tnem. wnen men
minister to the Lord, He is at no loss for means to inform
them what His will is. Saul had been told from the beginning
that his preaching was to be "far hence unto the
Gentiles." To what extent he understood the import of the
call ac do not know. Years had elapsed and he had not yet
gone to the Gentiles. Nor does it seem that this mission
begun at Antloch contemplated any of the Gentiles.
The selection of the missionaries having been made by
the Spirit, the church officers (if we may call them suchi
ordained them to this work by fasting and prayer and the
raying on of hands. This doubtless was a very solemn and
impressive ceremony; but it does not answer to the later
ordination of church officials, except as showing that from
tbe beginning the church followed Jewish customs and the
explanation of Christian ceremonies is to be sought in the Old
Testament.
They went down to Seleucia, the seaport of Antloch, situated
at the mouth of the river Orontes. The distance from
Antloch by boat was about forty-one miles, by land, about
I ' .
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OF THE SOUTH. 15
sixteen miles. Tlielr first objective point was the Island of
Cyprus. In the absence of any information, we may conjecture
that they went to Cyprus because of its accessibility,
and mainly because it was the home of Barnabas. So far
these were home missionaries. The first Cypriote city they
leached was Salamis. This was a large city, inhabitated
by many Jews. There they had several synagogues. The
g-spel had already been successfully preached in Cyprus.
Barnabas and Saul confined their activities to the Jewish
synagogues in Salamis. It is incidentally mentioned that they
had John Mark as attendant. Probably he joined them at
this place. He was a nephew of Barnabas, and while his
mother had a home in Jerusalem, Cyprus was iiniiwi?? u,~
? ?.W?.Vvavoo uia
rative land.
They went through the whole island, from east to west,
to Paphos, about one hundred miles.
How long they tarried at Salamis, what towns they visited
in the Interior and what success they had, we know not.
At Paphos, the ancient seat of the worship of Venus, they
met a Jew, named Bar-Jesus. The name means, the son .
of Joshua, and was, perhaps, not uncommon. This man called
himself Elymas, which is an Arabic word, meaning, the Wise
Man. 1-Ie was au impostor, such as were found in numbers
throughout the Raman Empire. Many of them held such
positions as Bar-Jesus with Roman officials. Sergius Pauius,
ol an old Roman family, was proconsul. The title of this man
has had a curious history. It was proven to the satisfaction
of nearly everybody but the simple ones thai Luke had made
a mistake in calling him a proconsul nn* >??* *- -*
. , -uu Hie aiicilipiS OI
good men to account for the mistake aud at the same
time defend Luke's character as an inspired writer, make
interesting reading, now that it is known that Luke made no
mistake about it.
The proconsul heard of Barnabas and Saul and sent for
them. Their mission was not to hint, yet they were not
unwililng to teach him. He was another of that type of Romans
to which Cornelius belonged. The Jewish sorcerer
undertook to prevent their influence with the Roman and is
punished and made harmless mtth ?
?m|iuiai) uiiuuness. Doubtless
Paul remembered his experience when he was blind at
Damascus. Blindness had been a blessing to him.
Prom this time Saul takes the lead in the mission and is called
Paul. The name probably had been borne by him all his life.
Paul was a common name in Asia Minor, and most Jews had
a double name, Hebrew and Roman, or Greek. Some think
he now first received it to commemorate his conquest of
Sergius Paulus. Others think he assumed it in modesty as
describing his littleness. Paul means, little.
W. D. Hedleston.
YOKED WITH THE MASTER.
Come unto me. the Master's voice is calling,
All ye that labor 'neath sin's yoke so galling,
And heavy laden are, and sore oppressed;
Come unto me, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon your shoulders, torn
By Satan's cruel yoke you long have worn.
And learn of me the way to wear aright
The yoke, and make the burden seem so light.
My yoke is easy, and I walk beside
You, and your erring steps will always guide;
So that, although the road be rough and steep,
We'll never wander into darkness deep.
My burden, too, is light, because the yoke
Fits snugly, and the roughnesses are broke
By leaning hard against your comrade nigh,
As thus we pull together, you and I.
G.' M. M.
Roanoke, Va.