As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
Parallel Translations
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As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
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As they mynistred to the Lorde and fasted the holy goost sayde: separate me Barnabas and Saul for the worke where vnto I have called them.
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Nowe as they ministred to the Lord, and fasted, the holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the worke whereunto I haue called them.
Cross-references (38)
Passages linked to Acts 13:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 1:15 But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace
- Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
- 1 Corinthians 12:11 But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.
- Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
- 2 Timothy 1:11 For this I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
- Daniel 9:3 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
- Acts 14:26 From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.
- Acts 22:21 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
- 1 Timothy 2:7 to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
- 1 Samuel 2:11 Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served Yahweh before Eli the priest.
- Matthew 6:16 “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
- Luke 2:37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
- Acts 8:29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.”
- Acts 10:19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you.
- Galatians 2:8-9 for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles— and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.
- Colossians 4:17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
- 2 Timothy 2:2 The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same things to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
- Numbers 8:11-14 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh. “The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.
- Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
- 1 Chronicles 16:4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before Yahweh’s ark, and to commemorate, to thank, and to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel:
- Matthew 9:14-15 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
- Matthew 9:38 Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”
- Acts 10:30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
- Acts 16:6-7 When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
- Ephesians 3:7 of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.
- 1 Chronicles 16:37-43 So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required; and Obed-Edom with their brothers, sixty-eight; Obed-Edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers; and Zadok the priest, and his brothers the priests, before Yahweh’s tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in Yahweh’s law, which he commanded to Israel; and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were mentioned by name, to give thanks to Yahweh, because his loving kindness endures forever; and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate. All the people departed, each man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.
- Acts 6:4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”
- Acts 13:3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
- Acts 20:28 Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
- Romans 10:15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
- Romans 15:16 that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 7:5 Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
- 2 Corinthians 6:5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;
- 2 Corinthians 11:27 in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
- 2 Timothy 4:5 But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.
- 2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
- Hebrews 5:4 Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was.
- Luke 10:1 Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2 And they ministered to the Lord. The word…
2 And they ministered to the Lord. The word which Luke useth doth not only signify to be occupied about holy things, but also sometimes to bear public offices. And because the holy rites of the Gentiles did for the most part consist upon [of] burnt-offerings and sacrifices, it is oftentimes taken for to offer sacrifice; which sense did well like the Papists, that they might prove that the apostles did use some sacrifice. But admit it were so; yet do they foolishly pretend for defense of their mass, that the teachers of Antioch did sacrifice. First, forasmuch as the word is of the plural number, it followeth that every one of them did say mass. But letting toys pass, I say we must consider what manner of sacrifice Christ commended to his Church. The Papists feign that the office of priesthood is enjoined them, to sacrifice Christ and by sacrificing him to redeem peace with God. There is so little mention made hereof in Scripture, that the Son of God doth rather challenge this honor to himself alone. Wherefore Christ’s Church hath another priesthood, to wit that every man may offer himself and his to God; and that the public ministers may sacrifice to God, souls, with the spiritual sword of the gospel, as Paul teacheth, (Romans 15:16.) Moreover, the prayers of all the godly are the spiritual calves of the lips, (Hosea 14:2,) wherewith God is well pleased, when they are offered up upon the holy altar; that is, in Christ’s name, [as] in the thirteenth to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 13:15.) Therefore, when Luke saith that the prophets and teachers ministered to God when the Spirit spake to them, I understand nothing else but that they were in the public action. He addeth fasting, that we may know that their minds were then free from all impediments, that nothing might hinder them from giving attendance to prophesying. But the question is, whether they kept a common fast, or Luke doth only signify that they were fasting then until that time. This is, without question, that these circumstances were expressed, that Paul’s calling may carry the more credit amongst us.
Separate to me. God commandeth that Paul and Barnabas be sent by the consent of the Church, thither whither he had appointed them to be sent; whereby we gather that there is no lawful election of pastors, save only wherein God is chief. For whereas he hath commanded that the Church should elect pastors and bishops, he hath not therefore granted men so much liberty, but that he will bear the chief sway as the chief governor. The ordinary election of pastors differeth from this appointing of Paul and Barnabas, because it was requisite that they should be appointed by the heavenly oracle to be the apostles of the Gentiles; which is not necessary to be done daily in ordaining pastors. But they agree in this, that as God did testify that Paul and Barnabas were already appointed by his decree to preach the gospel, so none may be called unto the office of teaching save only those whom God hath already chosen to himself after a sort.
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Furthermore, there is no need that the Spirit should cry to us out of heaven, that he is called of God about whom we are, because we receive those, as it were, from hand to hand, (as they say,) whom God hath furnished with necessary gifts, forasmuch as they are framed and made fit by his hand. But whereas Luke saith in this place, that Paul was appointed by the voices and consents of the Church; it doth seem not to agree with Paul’s own words, where he doth deny that he was called of men, or by men, (Galatians 1:1.) I answer, that he was made an apostle long before, (and that by no voices [suffrages] of men,) before such time as he was sent unto the Gentiles; and he had now already executed the office of an apostle many years, when he was called to go unto the Gentiles by a new oracle. Wherefore, that he may have God for the author of his apostleship, it is not without cause that he excludeth men. And he doth not now command that he be ordained by the Church therefore, [viz.] that his calling may depend upon men; but God publisheth that his decree, which was as yet known to a few, and that with a public commandment, and he commandeth that it be sealed with the solemn subscription of the Church. Therefore, this is the meaning of the words, That this is the time wherein Paul must preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and the wall being pulled down, he must gather a Church of the Gentiles, who were before strangers from the kingdom of God, (Ephesians 2:14.) For although God had used him hitherto at Antioch and elsewhere, this was now added as a peculiar thing, that God did intend to adopt the Gentiles into the same inheritance of life with the Jews. But and if he were thus created a teacher of the Church from the beginning, he should not then have been called at that time by men. For, seeing the Lord doth pronounce that he had called him, what doth he leave for the Church, save only that they subscribe obediently? For men’s judgment is not here put as in a doubtful matter, neither have their voices and consents any freedom. But we must mark what I have already said, that Paul and Barnabas are not now only appointed teachers, but they have an extraordinary office enjoined them, that they may begin to bring the grace of God commonly unto the Gentiles. And that do the words import, when it is said, Separate to the work For undoubtedly he speaketh of a new work, and which had heretofore not been used.
But how is Barnabas in this place appointed to be Paul’s companion and fellow in office, who, as far as we can read, did never execute the office of teaching? yea, who did always give Paul leave to teach, without saying anything himself? I answer, that he had occasions enough offered him to speak in Paul’s absence, so that they had both of them enough to do. For one could not always be present in all places. It is not to be doubted but that he did faithfully discharge that duty which God had enjoined him, and that he was no dumb looker on. And why should we wonder that Luke doth not set down his sermons in plain words, seeing that he scarce repeateth one of a thousand of Paul’s?
The Spirit said. Whatsoever Macedonius and his sect object that they may turn their backs, yet we have a more plain and sound testimony of the divine essence of the Spirit in this place, than that they can escape it and make it frustrate. There is nothing more proper to God than with his power and commandment to govern the Church alone; but the Spirit challengeth this right when he commandeth that Paul and Barnabas be separated to him, and testifieth that they were called by his beck. Assuredly we must needs confess that the body of the Church is lame and without a head, unless we confess that it is God who ordereth the same at his pleasure, who setteth teachers over it, who governeth the proceedings and order thereof. We shall have afterwards chapter 20, in Paul’s sermon, (Acts 20:28,) that all bishops are placed by the Holy Ghost, which govern the Church; but no man is to be counted a lawful pastor of the Church, as the same Paul witnesseth, save he which is called of God; neither doth God point out false prophets by any other mark, save only by this, that he hath not sent them; therefore, we gather that the Holy Ghost is God indeed, whose authority is sufficient to choose pastors, and who hath the chief rule in choosing them, which is likewise confirmed out of the words of Isaiah,
“And now, behold, the Lord hath sent me, and his Spirit,” (Isaiah 48:16.)
Furthermore, we must note out of these words, that he is a person truly subsisting in God; for if we admit Sabellius’s invention, that the word Spirit importeth no person, but that it is a bare adjunct, [epithet] that shall be a foolish and absurd speech, that the Holy Ghost hath said, Isaias also should foolishly ascribe to him the sending of a prophet.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain While they were busy doing their office, that is,…
While they were busy doing their office, that is, as Chrysostom expoundeth it, while they were preaching.
The Lord is said to call (whereof this word (calling) cometh, which is usual in the Church) when he causeth that to be, which was not, whether you refer it to the matter itself or to any quality or thing about the matter: and it groweth of this, because when things begin to be, then they have some name: as God’s mighty power is also declared thereby, who spake the word, and things were made.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,…
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Ver. 2. As they ministered] λειτουργαυντων. The Greek Scholiast hath it, κηρυττοντων, "as they preached," which is the chief office of a minister, and his highest honour. Others interpret it, "as they prayed," so the Syriac and Arabic. The Papists only, "as they sacrificed," to countenance their abominable idol of the mass.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Ministered; the word importeth the exercise of any public…
Ministered; the word importeth the exercise of any public office, sacred or civil. But in the former verse mentions being made of prophets and teachers, these words are in sense too conjoined with them; and inform us, that they were preaching to and instructing of the people, (for there is no ministry or service which God likes better than to convert and save souls), and, that all might be more effectual, as being done with greater earnestness and intention of mind, whilst they fasted.
The Holy Ghost said; by some inward instinct in those prophets before spoken of, who had warrant to declare it as from him.
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Separate me Barnabas and Saul; these two were to be separated: as the first born under the law, Exo 13:12, and after them, or in their stead, the Levites, Num 3:12; so were Paul and Barnabas in especial manner separated for the calling in of the Gentiles, that great ministry or service which God had for them to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, How the Holy Ghost takes occasion when…
Observe here, How the Holy Ghost takes occasion when the teachers of the church at Antioch were assembled together in God’s presence, and about his work, to give them particular instructions and directions concerning his will and their duty.
Observe farther, The solemn charge given by the Holy Ghost, to set apart Saul and Barnabas by solemn imposition of hands, for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles: This was a great work, and not to be undertaken without a special call from God; therefore says the Holy Ghost, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul to the work whereunto I have called them:" Which words prove both the Deity and personality of the Holy Ghost: He who calls ministers to the office, and unto whose service they are separated, is both God and a distinct person in the Godhead; but this the Holy Ghost did: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul."
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Here note, 1. That the work of the ministry is a separate work. Ministers must be set apart for the work of the ministry before they undertake it; a call from God is not sufficient without a separation by man.
Note, 2. That this separation ought to be performed by the chief ministers of the church, who have authority from Christ to separate and set others apart for the works of the ministry. The Holy Ghost said to the teachers of the church at Antioch, "Separate me."
Note, 3. That this solemn act and ordinance ought to be performed in a very solemn manner, by fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands.
Note, 4. That when thus performed , it is agreeable to the mind, and according to the institution and appointment of the Holy Ghost: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate, &c."
Note lastly, Though the office of the ministry be an honourable office, yet withal it is laborious work. Separate them for the work whereunto I have called them. It is a work that requires attendance, and zealous application, both in season and out of season. Praying, preaching, administering sacraments; guiding and governing the flock by private admonition, and public censure: These are weighty works, found so now by those that perform them faithfully, and will be found so at the great day, by the slothful and negligent.
How can that be esteemed by any slight and inconsiderable work, unto the faithful performance thereof so great a reward is promised, and to the omission whereof so dreadful a woe is denounced?
If Satan destroy men’s souls, he shall answer for them as a murderer only, not as an officer intrusted with the care of them; but if the watchmen doth not warn, if the shepherd doth not feet, if the prophet doth not only for the souls that have miscarried, but for an office neglected, for a talent hidden, and for a stewardship unfaithfully administered.
Lord! how unable shall we be at the making up our accounts, to endure the hideous outcries of distressed souls, saying, Parentes sensimus parricidas: Our guides have misled us, our watchmen have betrayed us, our stewards have defrauded us, and the following of their evil example has undone us.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As they ministered to the Lord,.... That is, the…
As they ministered to the Lord,.... That is, the five prophets and teachers before mentioned; and whose ministry lay in preaching the Gospel, teaching the people the doctrines of it, and expounding prophecies, and also in prayer; to which latter the Syriac version restrains their ministry, rendering it, "as they prayed to God"; but the phrase seems to be more extensive: "and fasted"; which the Jews were much used to, and the believing ones had not yet left it off; their custom was to fast on Mondays and Thursdays: See Gill on Luk 18:12. Whether it was on one of those days, that these men were ministering and fasting, is not certain; but this we may be sure of, it was not on the Jewish sabbath, for on that day they never fasted; very likely that this was a fast appointed and fixed among themselves, on some particular occasion; it may be on account of the famine, which was at this time, Act 11:28.
The Holy Ghost said; either with an articulate voice, or by an internal impulse, upon the minds of three of the prophets:
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separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them; the work which the Holy Ghost had appointed, and called them to before this, was to go and preach the Gospel among the Gentiles, distinct from the Jews, of which we read in the latter part of this chapter; and now he would have them be separated from their brethren, as Aaron and his sons were from theirs, and be sent forth from hence directly, upon that work: this shows the Spirit to be a person, since speaking and commanding in an authoritative way, and calling to a work, are ascribed unto him; and that he is a divine person, and truly God, and equal with God, since calling to a sacred office is attributed to him; and a separation to it is ordered for himself, for his service, honour, and glory; he does not say separate them to the Lord, or to God, but to me.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to…
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them - This was not ordaining them. St. Paul was ordained long before, and that not of men, neither by man: it was only inducting him to the province for which our Lord had appointed him from the beginning, and which was now revealed to the prophets and teachers. In consequence of this they fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, a rite which was used not in ordination only, but in blessing, and on many other occasions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. As they ministered to the Lord, and…
Verse 2. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted] On Mondays and Thursdays it was usual with the more pious Jews to attend the public service in their synagogues, and to fast: the former is what we are to understand by ministering to the Lord. On the Sabbaths they attended the service in the synagogue, but did not fast. The Greek word, λειτουργουντων, signifies performing the office of praying, supplicating, rendering thanks, c.: hence the word λειτουργια, liturgy, the work of prayer, c., from λιτη, supplication, according to some or rather from λειτος, common, and εργον, work, the common or public work, in which all the people were engaged.
The Holy Ghost said] A revelation of the Divine will was made to some person then present probably to either Simeon, or Lucius, or Manaen, mentioned before.
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Separate me Barnabas and Saul.] Consecrate, or set them apart, for the particular work whereunto I have called them. How this was done, we find in the next verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As they ministered to the Lord - It is…
As they ministered to the Lord - It is probable that this took place on some day set apart for fasting and prayer. The expression “ministered to the Lord” means as they were engaged in prayer to the Lord, or as they were engaged in divine service. The Syriac thus renders the passage.
The Holy Ghost said - Evidently by direct revelation.
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Separate me - Set apart to me, or for my service. It does not mean to ordain, but simply to designate, or appoint to this specific work.
For the work whereunto I have called them - Not the apostolic office, for Saul was called to that by the express revelation of Jesus Christ Gal 1:12, and Barnabas was not an apostle. The “work” to which they were now set apart was that of preaching the gospel in the regions round about Antioch. It was not any permanent office in the church, but was a temporary designation to a missionary enterprise in extending the gospel, especially through Asia Minor, and the adjacent regions. Accordingly, when, in the fulfillment of this appointment, they had traveled through Seleucia, Cyprus, Paphos, Pamphylia, Pisidia, etc., they returned to Antioch, having fulfilled the work to which they were separated. See Act 14:26-27. “Whereunto I have called them.” This proves that they received their commission to this work directly from God the Holy Spirit. Paul and Barnabas had been influenced by the Spirit to engage in this work, but they were to be sent forth by the concurrence and designation of the church.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain As they were ministering to the Lord.[1] Mr. N.…
As they were ministering to the Lord.[1] Mr. N. and some others translate, offering up sacrifice. There are indeed good grounds to take this to be the true sense, as the Rhemish translators observed, who notwithstanding only put ministering, lest, (said they) we should seem to turn it in favour of our own cause, since neither the Latin nor Greek word signifies of itself to sacrifice, but any public ministry in the service of God; so the St. John Chrysostom says, when they were preaching. (Witham) --- Separate me. Though Paul and Barnabas are here chosen by the Holy Ghost for the ministry, yet they were to be ordained, consecrated, and admitted by men; which loudly condemns all those modish and disordered spirits, that challenge and usurp the office of preaching, and other sacred and ecclesiastical functions, without any appointment from the Church. (Bristow) --- Consider, says St. John Chrysostom, by whom they are ordained: by Lucius, of Cyrene, and Manahen, rather than by the Spirit. The less honourable these persons are, the more signal is the grace of God."
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Ministrantibus illus, Greek: leitourgounton de auton.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain As they ministered to the Lord--The word denotes the…
As they ministered to the Lord--The word denotes the performance of official duties of any kind, and was used to express the priestly functions under the Old Testament. Here it signifies the corresponding ministrations of the Christian Church.
and fasted--As this was done in other cases on special occasions (Act 13:3, Act 13:14, Act 13:23), it is not improbable that they had been led to expect some such prophetic announcement at this time.
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the Holy Ghost said--through some of the prophets mentioned in Act 13:1.
Separate me--So Rom 1:1.
for the work whereunto I have called them--by some communication, perhaps, to themselves: in the case of Saul at least, such a designation was indicated from the first (Act 22:21). Note.--While the personality of the Holy Ghost is manifest from this language, His supreme divinity will appear equally so by comparing it with Heb 5:4.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. They—These five Christian ministers alone. Nothing is said…
2. They—These five Christian ministers alone. Nothing is said of any others as being present or sharing.
Ministered—In prayer, praise, and, perhaps, sacramental communion. It was a special devotional assemblage of these five eminent men, probably, intended to learn the will of God in the promotion of the Christian cause.
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Said—Either to one, or, more probably, to all alike, by a supernatural communication, heard, in the very words here given, by the ear of the human spirit.
I have called—The Spirit gave the call; the ministers authenticated that call to men by visibly laying their hands upon the persons of these same men, and no other. To all, then, who recognised the authority, or acknowledged the weight of character of these layers-on of hands, the men sent were duly certified.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. As they ministered to the Lord] The word…
2. As they ministered to the Lord] The word is the one usually employed by the LXX. for the ministerial services in the Temple, as it is also Heb_10:11, but the parallelism with the next verse, where the service here mentioned is described as “fasting and prayer,” shews us that we are not to attach the former strict signification to it. Such has been the mind of the Church also, for from this verb comes our word “Liturgy.” The old order is giving place to the new, and the terminology is receiving a new sense.
and fasted] as a solemn act of devotion in the prospect of the work which was before them.
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the Holy Ghost said] Speaking to and through the prophets who were there.
Separate me Barnabas and Saul] Saul had from the first been a “vessel of election,” and so specially severed for this work, and we can see why Barnabas, who had been the first to introduce Saul to the Church at Jerusalem, and whose education may have been very like his own, (for there was much inter-communication between Cyprus and Tarsus,) was appointed to be the sharer of Saul’s labours.
for the work whereunto I have called them] As the one portion of this admonition was from the Holy Ghost, we may perhaps be warranted in concluding that the whole course of this first great missionary journey was pointed out also by the Spirit. There is no notice of a deliberation in the Church about the best way for the Apostles to set forth.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) As they ministered to the Lord.—The verb so…
(2) As they ministered to the Lord.—The verb so translated (leitourgein) is commonly used, both in the LXX. and in the Now Testament, of the ministry of the priests and Levites in the Temple (Luk_1:23; Heb_8:6; Heb_9:21). In Heb_1:14, the corresponding adjective is used to distinguish the ministry of worship from that of service to man. When St. Paul uses it figuratively of himself (Rom_15:16), it is in connection with the idea of a sacrifice or oblation. In later ecclesiastical language, it was connected specially with the celebration of the Supper of the Lord, and the order for that service was, strictly speaking, the “Liturgy” of the Church. It would, perhaps, be too much to say that the word necessarily conveys that meaning here; but it is, at least, probable that a solemn meeting, such as is here described, would end in the “breaking of bread,” and that, up to that point, those who were so engaged would naturally be fasting.
The Holy Ghost said.—The mode of communication we may believe to have been, as in Act_20:23, through the lips of the prophets, speaking as by a sudden burst of simultaneous inspiration. (Comp. 1Ti_1:18.)
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Separate me Barnabas and Saul.—In the Greek a particle follows the imperative, which has no exact equivalent in English (the illative “then” being, perhaps, the nearest), but which seems to indicate that the command given was in answer to a prayer, and that it was to be acted on at once. The verb implies that they were to be set apart for a new work. Up to this time they had been among the prophets and teachers of the Church. Now they were to receive a solemn visible mission, following on the inspired utterances, as those had followed on personal intimations, consecrating them to the work of the Apostleship to the Gentiles.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And as for as, A.V. They ministered; i.e. not,…
And as for as, A.V. They ministered; i.e. not, as Meyer explains it, the whole Church, but the prophets and teachers, doubtless at an assembly of the Church. The word leitourgountwn, here rendered "they ministered" (from which the word "Liturgy" is derived), signifies any solemn ministration or holy service. In the Old Testament the LXX use it as the rendering of treve, to minister (often with the addition "to God," or "to the Lord"), which is a general word applying to the ministrations of priests and Levites (Exo_28:35; Num_8:26, etc.) Hence its (Heb_10:11 see too Luk_1:23; Heb_9:21) Joshua too is called Moses" minister (trevm) in Jos_1:1, etc., and the angels are called lritourgikamata, "ministering spirits". (Heb_1:14) Just as the Church transferred from the Jewish congregation so many other words and things, so also the use of the words leitourgia leitourgein, to Sicily "Divine service," without specifying the particular office, whether prayer, or preaching, or Holy Communion, or ordination, or any ether part of the worship of God. Its classical use was to designate any office performed by an individual for the public good. Hence in the New Testament its application to Church alms, (2Co_9:12) to gifts for the support of the ministry, (Php_2:30) to the office of magistrates, (Rom_13:6) etc. The restricted application of the term leitourgia to the service used in the celebration of the Eucharist was of much later growth, as is evident from Chrysostom explaining the word here of preaching. "What means ministering? Preaching" (Hom. 27.). It seems to have arisen from the fact that the first forms of prayer were those come posed for the office of the Holy Communion. This passage, therefore, does not give the slightest support to fasting Communion. What was the exact occasion of the service and fast here spoken of it is impossible to say. The Holy Ghost said, etc. This is the origin of the question in the Ordination of Deacons, "Do you trust that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this office?" Separate me (ajforisate). The act of separation, or ordination, would be by the laying on of the hands of Symeon and Lucius and Manaen, as Chrysostom says (at least of the two last named), in the presence of the whole Church, but the separation by the Holy Ghost, at least as regards Saul (oJ ajforisav me), bad been from his mother"s womb. (Gal_1:15) Observe, too, the kalesav ofklhmai Gal_1:15, and the proske here. This is another instance of the very close resemblance between parts of the Acts and the Epistle to the Galatians, which looks as if St. Paul was writing it about the same time as he was giving to St. Luke the details of his own history. (see Act_8:19, note) The ordination was to the apostolate (Chrysostom). Barnabas and Saul are never called apostles till after their ordination or consecration. (Act_14:14)
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Vers. 2, 3. Human separation to Divine missions.
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The point to which attention may be directed is that the living Lord, presiding in his Church, selects the persons to do his work, but requires the Church to make outward and formal recognition of his selection. Christ calls to work. The Church separates to work. This subject may be introduced by illustrations of the ways in which God was pleased to communicate his will under the older dispensations, as e.g. by the vision and message of angels, by the mission of prophets, by inward impulses. We may recognize a steady advance towards the more spiritual ways in which God communicates his will to the New Testament Church; sometimes directly inspiring the individual member; at other times revealing his will to some that, through them, it might be communicated to all. The indwelling Spirit is now the medium of Divine revelation to men. So indwelling, he becomes the constant inspiration of thought, feeling, judgment, and action. The Holy Ghost, conceived as the abiding Divine presence in the Church, said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." It has been suggested that the will of the Holy Ghost was known "through the lips of the prophets, speaking as by a sudden burst of simultaneous inspiration.
I THE DIVINE ALLOTMENT OF WORK AND WORKERS.
1. God has a work for each one of his creatures to do. This truth is illustrated in the infinite variety of things which God has made on the earth. Each minutest creature has his place, his work, and his fitness for doing it. As we ascend in the scale of being, the work becomes more complex; and it is difficult for us to realize that the same thing can be true of man, who is endowed with self-will and is free to choose his own way. Yet we do hold that, in the Divine omniscience and government, a work is appointed for every man, and that, for the doing of that precise work, each man is brought into being at a particular time and endowed with particular abilities. A perfect order on earth could be attained if each individual fitted precisely into the place and work to which he has been divinely assigned.
2. But God not only has a variety of forms of work, he has a perfect knowledge of the men who can best do it. Sometimes the Divine sovereignty is spoken of in a way that cannot honor God. It is assumed that he acts upon a bare exercise of will, and without the necessity for consideration. But the case of our text rather shows that the Divine selections are always made upon due estimate of the fitness of the individuals. Barnabas and Saul were evidently just the men to undertake this new mission to the Gentiles. It follows from this view of the Divine calls to work that it can never be a true humility that refuses a Divine call; Moses and Jeremiah were both in the wrong when they hesitated and shrank back from a duty which God laid upon them. We may be quite sure that we can do whatsoever God requires us to do.
3. And it may further be shown that God has the full right to call forth any one of his servants to serve him in any way that he may please. Moses must come from the deserts, Gideon from the winepress, David from the sheepfolds, Elisha from his ploughing, and John from his fishing, if the "Lord hath need of him.
II THE HUMAN RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE ALLOTMENT. It may be said Is not the Divine allotment of workers and their work sufficient? and why should more than this be necessary? In reply, it may be pointed out that God deals with us as communities, and recognizes our mutual relations, and our influence one upon another. For the sake of the blessing which one man"s call may be to many, he requires that it shall be publicly and openly recognized. In this way his claims, his presence, and his abiding relations to all work and workers may be freshly impressed upon the Church. Ordination and dedication services are fruitful in blessing to the Churches. It may be well to point out:
1. The value of forms, services, and devout ceremonials.
2. The most profitable and helpful forms such services may take, noting and explaining that, in the ordination of Barnabas and Saul, there was union in fasting and in prayer, with the solemn "laying on of hands.
3. The purposes that may be served by such public dedications
(1) increased feeling of responsibility on the part of the persons dedicated;
(2) assured interest of the congregation in their work;
(3) impulse to others to devote themselves to Christian work. R.T.
Vers. 2, 4. The presidency of the Holy Ghost.
Holy Ghost said;" "Being sent forth by the Holy Ghost." Seriously erroneous views of the presidency of the Holy Ghost in the Christian Church or Churches make it necessary that the true and scriptural teaching on the subject should be explained. It is assumed, by some sections, that this presidency secures the absolute truth of whatever may be said at such a meeting, and the infallibility of every decision to which such a meeting may be led. But the Holy Spirit is not present to secure results, only to guide deliberations. God is present with man in no such sense as involves the mastery of man"s free thought and will, and changing him into a mere created thing. The distinction is an essential one, though it may be difficult to grasp. We may illustrate from the relations between the branch and the vine. The life in the branch is the life of the vine; but the branch is free to take its own shapings under various external influences. At the same time, it is still true that the vine-life controls and overrules the very shapings of the branch, in its own secret ways. Presidency, inspiration, guidance, and control we may have in the abiding and indwelling Holy Ghost; but infallibility for the individual, the community, or the Church, it is no part of his work to ensure. Considering what may be learned concerning the presidency of the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures, we notice
I THE FIGURE AS SEEN IN THE OLD PROPHETS. Divine communications were made, in the earlier days of the world, to individuals upon due occasion, and oracular responses were made by the high priest, through Urim and Thummim. But in the times of the prophets we meet with a most important advance in the Divine relations. More or less constantly God dwells with and abides in those prophets, and their relation to the Divine was the foreshadowing and preparation for the abiding relations of the Holy Ghost with the believer and the Church. The "Word of the Lord" came to the prophets, but, besides this, there was an openness and sensitiveness to Divine leadings which could be thus expressed: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me." Other points will come out upon a study of the nature of prophetic inspiration, and especially this one, as bearing on the point now before us, that the Holy Ghost used the individuality of the prophet, and became only the life and force behind it, and so prepared for the Christian times when, in this way, all the Lord"s people are prophets. The progression of Divine truth is well illustrated in the history of the relations of the Spirit of God with men.
II THE FACT AS REPRESENTED IN THE THEOCRACY. The very essence of the idea of the theocracy was the invisible presence and rule of God with men. God was with them always with them. Yet they never saw him. Somehow he was in them. He knew all their concerns. He was appropriately affected by all their doings. He could be "grieved," "quenched," "resisted," and even "driven away." Present with them, he inspired and guided all the national life; he toned and sanctified all the family and social life. The sublimest sentiment of Mosaism was that of the indwelling presence of Jehovah. Then, when the fullness of times came, the Jehovah-figure could pass aside, with its kingliness and mystery, giving place to the Father (holy Father, righteous Father); and the sense of God"s near presence and close though invisible relations could be realized in the conception of the abiding, indwelling Holy Ghost, who leads us into all truth and righteousness.
III THE FEELING AS REALIZED IN A MOVING AND GUIDING OF OUR JUDGMENT, WILL, AND RESOLVE. In seeking to avoid the merely sentimental, we must take heed that we miss or undervalue no truth. And Christian experience abundantly confirms the position that there is a most real sense in which open hearts feel the inward movings of the Holy Ghost, and may rely on the Divine inward guidance of judgment and will. The Church, too, may plead that her experience confirms the testimony of the individual Christian. This subject should be so treated as to deal with men"s practical difficulty How can we know we have Divine guidance in our business and family affairs now? If God"s Spirit dwells in us, we now have the actual inspiration and direction of our judgment, will, purpose, and decision. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the…
Act_13:2-13
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul.
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The completion of the apostolate
This act was no conferring of the apostleship by the prophets and teachers; the apostles themselves had received no power from Christ to do that. Both the vocation and its bestowal could only come direct from God. Barnabas and Saul were appointed to fill up the vacant places caused by the execution of James the son of Zebedee, and by the withdrawal of James the son of Alphaeus from apostolic to episcopal work, and thus the number of those bearing the apostolic mission was restored to its normal condition of twelve. The apostolic college always consisted of twelve men at a time, and therefore the Apocalypse knows only of twelve apostles as foundation stones of the holy city. (Prof. Von Dollinger.)
Bodily abstinence
Deep, earnest thoughts have often stirred in me on bodily abstinence, as the condition of helping the spirit through the strait gate of opposing animalism, into the sweet and holy Paradise element. There is an element of which Jesus is the Prince, and there is an element of which Satan is prince. While we appropriate the elements of the nethermost prince, we may be strong in the powers of nature, but perhaps not so strong in the life that is hid with Christ in God; for in the exercise and indulgence of our fleshly appetites we do not breathe deeply enough to inspire the holy element of our risen Prince. Finding that deep and holy spirit breathing was suspended during bodily enjoyments, godly souls have often interdicted the gratifications of the flesh, in order to help their spirits in the God-ward direction. (J. Pulsford.)
Mission and commission
(with Timothy 1:6):--In words such as these we have a picture out of that earliest life of the Church, of which the books from which I take it tell the story. How fresh and vivid it is! What high enthusiasm, unhesitating self-sacrifice! We look at the mighty forces against which the first Christian disciples hurled themselves, at the spiritual torpor, the black hopelessness, the unutterable moral degradation to which they made their appeal, and we wonder at their audacity--or their faith! No hostility daunted them; no tremendous bulk of evil deterred them. They were on fire with a consuming purpose, and they did not stop, whether to measure their task or to discuss its difficulties. This, we say, is the fruit of a great enthusiasm. It always works this way, and it would be without results if it did not. Yes, but the moment we look a little closer at the story of this enthusiasm we shall see that along with it there was something more. It has been common to disparage the gifts of the first founders of Christianity, and to seek to make the more of its distinctive characteristics by making as little as possible of the men who illustrated them. They have been described as insignificant among the great of their own day; and measured in one way they were. But when we come close to some at least among them we cannot so easily disesteem them. One among them was chosen to be the leader among his fellows. Can anybody who reads the story of his life find it easy to believe that he had not in him that natural genius of leadership? The voices that have stirred the world, the messages that have thrilled and enkindled cold and discouraged hearts, have not been the voices and messages of fools. And does anybody suppose when the Church at Antioch fasted and celebrated its solemn Eucharist, and prepared to choose who were to go forth on its high errands, that Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and the rest of them were there at haphazard? Out from these half-dozen men, more or less, were to be chosen two to be consecrated on that memorable day to a great and memorable work. Do you suppose that they did not seek for eloquence (if they could find it), for sympathy, for the quick power of understanding anothers perplexities, for that infinite hopefulness of human nature which, I sometimes think, is quite its finest quality? We may be sure they did. And no less sure may we be that when Barnabas and Saul were singled out from among their associates for the rare dignity of suffering and loneliness and privation in their high office, they were chosen because, among any set of men, and in whatever service, they would sooner or later inevitably have come to the front. Yes, but how were they singled out? There came a voice, etc. Whose voice was it? Were those men called thus to their high office by the high acclaim of a public assembly? For myself I have little doubt that before the Voice that spoke those few words was heard there had been heard another and more multitudinous one. That city of Antioch contained the first Church organised among the Gentiles, and it became in time the centre of those missionary activities by which the Roman world was evangelised. The prophets and teachers who began the work were supplemented later by Barnabas and Saul; end step by step in the simple story we may trace the unfolding of the organic life of the Church. There was an assembly first, and then there came to be the ecclesia--and it was this community of the brethren, it may easily have been, that, with more or less formality, first indicated its preferences, and pointed its finger of designation towards the men who were fittest and worthiest for the higher service of the Church. But this was not mission. That came into view when we read that the Voice which said Separate Barnabas and Saul was the voice of the Holy Ghost. It is not only separate; it is separate Me. It is not only for the work ye are to separate them, but for the work whereunto I have called them. And thus we come into the presence of that unique distinction which forever differentiates the enthusiasm of the disciples from all other enthusiasms. It was the enthusiasm of a new creation by the power of a Divine breath. It is the sevenfold power of God the Holy Ghost. Call it an influence, water it down to be a cult, disparage it as so much mysticism, verily you will have to tear yonder story to pieces before you can get that element out of it! Bereft of the mission and work of the Holy Ghost, calling, arresting, convicting, convincing, enlightening, transforming, empowering--the whole fabric of primitive history becomes somehow invertebrate, and crumbles into a shapeless mass of incident and talk. But a still further question remains. What was not alone the evidence or token of that mission, but its authentication? Was this the whole story of that mission--that certain men being assembled together, a voice said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul, and that then those who were named separated themselves and went away, and henceforth did their work as men fully and sufficiently authorised and empowered thus for its discharge? On the contrary, there is something more in the history, which we may not arbitrarily leave out, and which is just as essential to its integrity as anything that has gone before. When they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, etc. Certainly there is no obscurity here. Juggle with the words as one may, he cannot separate the inward call and the outward ordinance, the spiritual mission and the factual commission, the Divine empowerment and the human authentication of it. There is a way which is of Gods appointment; there is a ministry which He first commissioned, and which they whom He first commissioned passed on and down to others. Its authority does not come up from the people; it descends from the Holy Ghost. And, as in the beginning, its outward and visible sign was the laying on of apostolic hands upon men called, whether to this or that or the other service--pastoral, priestly, or prophetic, yet still to an apostolic ministry--so it has been ever since. We turn from this scene at Antioch to those memorable ministries that came after it. One of them stands forth conspicuous above all the apostolates of its age--unique in its energy, unapproachable in its heroism, incomparable alike in the power of its preaching and in the inexhaustible richness of its writings. What fine scorn there is in those writings for that retrospective piety which lingered regretfully among the beggarly elements of the elder order and ritual--what impatience of the latter, what bold assertion of Christian liberty, what intense ardour of spiritual enthusiasm! Yes; but what scrupulous respect for authority, what careful observance of apostolic tradition, what reverent use of appointed means. There came a day when St. Paul is to set apart a youthful son in the faith to be an overseer of the Church in Ephesus. How does he do it? Does he tell him of the work that he is to do, and then simply dismiss him to do it? Does he say, Go, my son, and tell men in Asia Minor the story of your Lords love, and write me occasionally how you are getting on? Not such is the meaning of that clear and unequivocal language which he uses: Stir up the gift of God which is in thee--and which is in thee, not by inherited cleverness, or acquired learning, or popular endowment--but by the laying on of my hands; or, as the same fact is elsewhere stated, Neglect not the gift that was given thee … with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. And thus once and again does this apostle of a spiritual religion guard against that disesteem of the outward institutions of the Church, without which history demonstrates that religion runs thin and runs out. (Bp. H. C. Potter.)
Church enterprises, how they must begin in order to be blessed
1. Not with worldly computation, but from the impulse of the Spirit.
2. Not with a premature shout of triumph, but with humble prayer.
3. Not trusting to human names, even those of Barnabas and Saul, but in the name of the living God on whose blessing all things depend. (K. Gerok.)
The messengers of the gospel, how they should be sent to the heathen
I. On the call and intimation of the Lord.
1. Those who send must be moved not by their own spirit, but by the Holy Ghost.
2. Those who are to be sent must be chosen, not according to the dictates of human prudence, but according to the evident marks of Divine grace.
II. With holy behaviour.
1. Those who send should fast, i.e., abstain from all superfluities in order to have enough for the wants of the heathen.
2. They should pray; the prayer of the sender cooperates mightily with the word of the preachers.
3. The messengers should depart with the imposition of hands; regularly ordained if they are to have an orderly ministry for the salvation of the heathen and the advancement of the Church. (Lisco.)
Church offices; their value dependent on the Divine choice of the Officers
The meanest office imposed on one according to the Divine call is worthy to be received: the greatest dignity is not worth running after. (Rieger.)
The first missionary ordination at Antioch
I. Why did the first missionaries proceed from Antioch?
1. On account of the flourishing condition of that Church.
2. According to the peculiar will of Divine wisdom.
II. The appointment of the first missionaries.
1. What men were appointed?
(1) Barnabas, the Son of Consolation.
(2) Paul the scholar.
2. Their ordination.
(1) Called by the Holy Ghost.
(2) Separated by the Church. (Lisco.)
The first foreign mission
I. Separated by the Holy Ghost. Missions are of Divine origin. Saul had been chosen for the work, but the Holy Spirit had finally to give the word of command and direction. With regard to these pioneers in mission work, note--
1. The Church from which they were called. It was a strong Church. It had a large membership, and men inspired to declare the will and instruct in the Word of God. Important as Saul and Barnabas were, there were those who could carry on their work after they were gone. The Holy Spirit does not ask any Church to cripple itself even for the sake of missions.
2. The circumstances of their calling. The Church was just in the condition to hear the Divine call. They were offering their services to the Lord, and God designated what their service should be. The Church or the man that offers all to God will be made use of somehow and somewhere.
3. How they were called. The Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul. Observe here--
(1) The personality of the Holy Spirit. Separate Me I have called.
(2) The rulership of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had said that when the Comforter should come, He would be the one to guide the disciples. This declaration now was being fulfilled. To Him believers should look for direction.
(3) The cooperation of the Holy Spirit. He did not say, I have separated Barnabas and Saul, but Separate Me Barnabas and Saul, that they might have back of them not only the authority of the Spirit, but the authority of the Church. Doubtless this was done that the missionaries might feel that they were sent forth by their brethren as well as by the Holy Ghost.
4. Who were called. Barnabas and Saul, the two chief factors in the edifying of the Church at Antioch. The Holy Spirit chose the two best men, the men that least could be spared. It is a grave mistake to send out to foreign fields third or tenth-rate men. Few Churches ever have made the sacrifice for the mission cause that was made by the Church at Antioch.
5. For what they were called. For the work whereunto I have called them. The uttermost part of the earth was in the thought of Christ and of the Holy Spirit alike. Their oneness is suggested in the wording of the call.
6. How their call was responded to. Cheerfully and promptly.
II. Sent forth by the Holy Ghost.
1. The missionaries departing. So they … went down, etc. They were not only called by the Holy Spirit, but directed by Him as to their journey. That guidance continued, the Holy Spirit not suffering Paul to go into Bithynia, or to preach the gospel in Asia. Those who are called of the Spirit may trust to the Spirit for direction.
2. The missionaries at work. They proclaimed the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They entered upon their work with wisdom--making use of the regular channels for religious effect. Where pulpits were all ready for them they did not try to find new ones. They tried to reach Gods chosen people first as a means of reaching others.
III. Rebuking by the Holy Ghost.
1. The two missionaries were to score one more triumph for Christianity as against paganism, like that which was achieved by Philip in Samaria.
2. The sorcerer overcome.
(1) His opposition evidently had a mercenary inspiration. He was afraid of losing a powerful and generous patron.
(2) His rebuke--
(a) Was inspired by the Holy Spirit. More inspired denunciation is needed, but there is already too much of that which is uninspired.
(b) Justly characterised the man. Elymas was full of all guile and all villainy. He made his living by fraud and trickery. He was a child of the devil--doing the devils work by seeking to turn men to destruction. He was an enemy of all righteousness--hating the true as much as he loved the false. He was perverting the right ways of the Lord, and trying to make them seem like wrong ways. For such men today there ought to be the same righteous wrath and severe rebuke.
(3) His sentence. In this, inspired by the Holy Spirit, there was for the sorcerer--
(a) Terror. He was to feel the hand of the Lord upon him in judgment--to experience the power of God whom he had defied.
(b) Hope. It was to be for a season only. He was to have opportunity for repentance--to be blinded for a while that he might come out, if he would, into the marvellous light of the children of God.
(4) His punishment. He was blinded physically as he had blinded others spiritually. The impostor was unmasked, and deprived of his power to harm. The false had met with the true, and had been vanquished.
3. The proconsul convinced. The prompt, punitive miracle taught the proconsul--
(1) That his old teacher really was a child of the devil, instead of being a true prophet. Hence it showed him his danger.
(2) That Barnabas and Saul (henceforth Paul) were teachers accredited of God, and therefore to be heeded.
(3) That God was not to be trifled with, but to be feared and followed. And the proconsul, being ready to accept the truth, believed. The hand of the Lord was outstretched to save him as it had been outstretched to smite Elymas. The opposer of truth always will feel its weight--the seeker after truth always will receive its help. (M. C. Hazard.)
The first foreign mission
Westward the star of empire takes its way: and the same may be said about the star of truth. A new departure is now to be noticed in the policy of the Church, Propagation had thus far grown out of persecution; here is the first deliberate organisation--and that on behalf of foreign missions. Notice--
I. This beautiful picture of the Church in Antioch.
1. Strong people make a congregation strong. This body of disciples numbered among them a group of fine intelligent Christians. Besides the unnamed prophets and teachers, we recognise Barnabas and Saul, both brilliant, eloquent, scholarly men. It is not prince merchants, nor members of congress, nor fashionable women, that usually build up the piety of our families, unless they are devoted workers, and are constant in prayer.
2. Even inconspicuous Christians can be exceedingly useful. Nobody knows who Simeon was; Lucius received a message from Paul (Rom_16:21), but that is all that is heard of him. Manaen is not mentioned elsewhere. These are only a few among the plain Church members in Antioch--persons who often accomplish most for Christ today.
3. The missionary spirit is the first fruit of Divine indwelling in the hearts of believers (Psa_66:16). It is not always the most vigorous Christians who are content to sit down and wipe their weeping eyes the moment they think they can read their title clear to mansions in the skies.
4. Those in high service may expect to be invited higher. These people were ministering to the Lord faithfully where they were, when the Holy Spirit gave them the chance of starting the first foreign mission in history. It is a pity that good men forget the chief glory of being Christians, which is to spread the truth swiftly and widely and vigorously.
II. This sudden appointment of missionaries. We shall find much instruction concerning evangelistic methods.
1. The Church should choose its best men for foreign missionaries. The great systems of infidelity are to be besieged by the finest generals the Church can select.
2. The Holy Spirit will tell such praying people whom to commission, Three times does this mention of the Holy Ghost occur. The high authority of the ministry comes straight from Christ; all the Church can do is to follow where He leads.
3. The missionaries should be well supported in each enterprise. Our Lord told His disciples to go forth two by two (Mar_6:7). There is great comfort in companionship (Pro_27:17). The most pathetic spectacle in this world is that of one foreign missionary in some distant heathen city. Paul never grew plaintive until he was alone. Elijah never lost his courage until he was alone.
4. Those sent out in prayer will be likeliest to return in triumph (Act_14:26-27).
III. The account of the voyage and the general results of the mission. Let us notice--
1. Some of the successes.
(1) They had a safe voyage. The Mediterranean is exceedingly vicious, as Paul had reason afterwards to know. The Lord will make His providence protect those whom His grace sets apart for risky endeavour.
(2) They found free chance to preach the gospel. It is quite a grand success always to have an open door. The chief man in the city gave them a hearing. There is hope in every case when people give the chance for conversation.
2. Some set backs. It was to be expected that Satan would show himself somewhere. Things were getting serious for him: so he stirred up opposition from two sources.
(1) Earliest there came trouble from one of the devils children (verse 10). But God turned the wrath of man into praise (Psa_76:10).
(2) Then there came trouble from one of Gods children. Mark left the company; Pauls heart was grieved (Act_15:36-40). It is sad to get weary in well-doing (Luk_9:62). Young Christians must be steadfast. Mark did better afterwards (Col_4:10-11). (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The first missionary journey
1. In the Church,--how much is implied in these three words! Why this separateness of indication? Why not refer to the human family as a whole; the greater which includes the less? There must be some meaning in this society within society. Who ever speaks of society as a grand sum total of human life? The integer is broken up into innumerable fractions, but there is one fraction which says that it will and must become itself the whole number--that fraction is the Church. How many men does it take to make a Church? Two! Where do they meet? Where they please! What pomp and circumstance are requisite to constitute them into a Church? How much money? How much learning? None! Then they must be very weak? No: the side on which Omnipotence fights cannot be weak. Then they may be very poor? No! The side that banks in heaven can never be short of treasure. But they must have some place to meet in? Not necessarily. Under a tree will do, or in the middle of a meadow, or in the dens and caves of the earth. And the moment two men come together to constitute a Church, nothing further is requisite but the presence of Christ. The Church is composed of redeemed and regenerated men. They are one in Christ: diverse in everything that enters into the composition of humanity, yet one in Him who breaks down all middle walls of partition. Why do they not, then, cleave unto the Lord? When we pray we are one; when we speak to each other we are divided. Then why do we not pray, and let opinion alone? We have torn the seamless robe of Christ into innumerable rags! Christianity has now become a tissue of opinions; once it was a world-shaking faith. Pray on! Worship is the union of the Church!
2. Certain prophets and teachers,--different gifts, but the same subject. The prophet had a higher gift than the teacher; the teacher read a book that was written with pen and ink; but the prophet read a book that was going to be written. We have excluded the prophet from the Church; we call him heterodox, unsafe, not always to be relied upon; men speak of him with many parenthetic qualifications; they write about him with so many footnotes that the substantial text is reduced to a minimum. Yet it is the prophet that must lead us.
3. The Holy Ghost said. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church; there He can whisper and touch gently the minds which He seeks to affect. Had we listened more, had we invited fuller confidences from heaven, we should have known that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. The Holy Spirit must be our genius, our ability, our inspiration, our wealth. It is the function of the Holy Spirit to elect His own ministers: do not let us meddle with God in this matter. A. minister is not a manufacture--he is an inspiration! Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, etc. There our interest may well cease. Young men are not to be driven into the ministry; they are called to particular work and to particular places. The Lord hath a candlestick for every candle; He allots the place as well as calls the man.
4. A singular combination of the human and the Divine you will find in verses 3,
4. When the Church had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul they sent them away. That is the human side. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, presents the Divine aspect. This was a joint work of the Spirit and of the Church. This is the solution of the whole controversy about the Divineness of our salvation and our share in it. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you. So then we are fellow workers with God.
5. The two men sent forth by the Holy Ghost and the Church had their way made clear for them. God will take care of His own ministers. No minister of Christ in all this world but has friends. You may meet an Elymas, but you will also meet a Sergius Paulus. But the true ministry develops the evil spirit of the times. We sometimes hear timid people saying that this or that movement may be good, but certainly there has been a great deal of rioting on account of it. Wherever Barnabas and Saul are, Elymas will put in his claim, and there will be controversy in any town whose possession by the sorcerer is disputed by those who claim it in the name of Christ. We are disabled by timidity. Did Barnabas and Saul write home that opposition having arisen, they would return by the next boat? They were not given to returning except with victory, or to equip themselves for further Christian assault!
6. It is beautiful to mark how Saul takes his right position by a most natural process. Nothing can keep down a man whom God has appointed to the throne. There will be no controversy, for Barnabas was a good man, and he instantly knew where the power was, and he stood aside with the graceful courtesy which is taught and acquired only in the school of heaven.
7. Then Saul wrought his first miracle. He fixed his eyes on the Sorcerer, and said: O full of all subtilty, etc. Truly his speech was then not contemptible! Stung by fire, he turned into a mighty and thrilling speaker. That fire we have lost. We talk to Elymas in syllables of ice; we look at him with vacant eyes, he returns our unmeaning stare. We shall presently hear Pauls first speech. Truly he begins in this chapter! He has been at home waiting, wondering, reading, thinking, and praying; and now his turn has come, and in this chapter we see his first miracle, and hear his first thunder, and know that the king of men has arisen in the Church! (J. Parker, D. D.)
The first missionary journey
1. At Antioch there was a very large Christian society. But, however large, it is always spoken of as the Church, and not the Churches, as was the case in Judea and Galatia. We do not wonder, therefore, at finding that there were several instructors, as was probably always the case. Variety of gifts, division of labour, adaptability for special service, a governing body, with other advantages, were naturally secured by this arrangement. In the present case it is very likely that each of the persons named was a man of some consideration and culture. God is a God of order; and however, in introducing into the world something new, men who are rude and unlettered may be employed, yet when things get into a condition that is to be permanent, then laws come into operation which belong to the ordinary requirements of common life. When you have not inspiration, you must have men who have original power and acquired knowledge, and cultivated faculty, which become spiritual gifts, fitted for the work of the ministry and the edification of the body of Christ, when they are sanctified by God.
2. There was something special about the exercises in which we find these men engaged. They were fasting and praying perhaps under the influence of the state of things in the persecuted Church in Judaea, and because there was a growing feeling amongst them that they should be making aggressions upon the world. As they fasted and prayed the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me now, Barnabas and Saul, etc. They had been called long before, and had been endowed with gifts and authority, but now they were to be solemnly set apart to go to their special work. They went forth, seeing perhaps the first step or two before them, but not knowing whither they were to be led.
3. In being called specially to set forth on a work of this kind, I do not know whether they were directed, or whether they were left to decide for themselves. If the latter, several circumstances and motives might have influenced them. Saul had been to his native place; what was more natural than that they should now go to Barnabass? And then the Church at Antioch owed its very existence to men of Cyprus. A sense of obligation to Cyprus, as well as the natural feeling of Barnabas, might determine them to go there first.
4. The first place they came to was Salamis, where they preached in the synagogues; it is not said with what success, unless there be an underlying implication of success, when it is said that they had also John to their minister; in which capacity, as Peter did not baptize Cornelius, and Paul tells us that Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, he probably assisted Barnabas and Saul by taking that work.
5. From Salamis they passed on through the island, to Paphos, but most likely preaching as they went. We have here, in vivid type, an image of that grand contest between truth and error which was then beginning--the age, with its inquiry and philosophy, looking on. First of all we have a certain sorcerer, the representative of corrupted Judaism and perverted intelligence. He has got a wonderful amount of knowledge from the study of the Divine Word and the science of the day, but he seeks to turn it to selfish purposes, and by false pretensions impudently pretends to be possessed of supernatural powers. This sort of thing was very common in that age, just as it is now, when some of the most gifted are to be found putting faith in communications from the dead--communications which never are anything that seems worth coming from Hades to tell! But, on the other hand, you have in Paul Judaism refined, elevated, purified--its prophecies fulfilled, its dark sayings illuminated, and the old faith developed into that high and perfect form of truth which is in future to rule the world. Then, in Sergius Paulus you have the age looking on. Sergius Paulus was prudent, most probably an earnest philosophical inquirer, who had seen the absurdity of idolatry, and the insufficiency of scepticism, and in search of truth was ready to welcome it however it came. He thinks he may learn something from Bar-Jesus, and therefore he listens. He hears of the other strangers, and he calls for them. When the two are brought together they are found to be opponents. Truth in the one instantly detects the lie in the other. Then there comes forth, at last, a manifestation of Divine power. Immediately there fell upon Elymas a mist and a darkness, etc. An outward and visible type of his spiritual state, and of the vanity of his pretensions! Instead of being able to be a guide it was his place to ask for those who might lead the blind. The intelligence of the age, in the person of the deputy, was subdued by the power of God and the wisdom of God--and thus he became an unconscious prophecy of what was afterwards seen in the Roman empire, and what will one day be seen in every part of the round world.
6. But now there comes a change in the language of the narrative. Barnabas and Saul, which we have always had before, now gives place to Paul and Barnabas. It is very singular that this change should take place just where this illustrious convert is introduced. It can hardly be thought, however, that Saul took the name of Paul out of compliment to the deputy. It is most probable that he had always had the name, and it came to be used in consequence of his becoming recognised as the Apostle of the Gentiles.
7. Passing from Cyprus, they went over to the continent, and got to Perga, and there Mark left them. We must not be too hard upon this young man. His conduct, no doubt, was very disappointing and mortifying to his uncle, and it greatly displeased Paul. He was inexperienced, and perhaps naturally timid. When he got to Asia, and saw the savage aspect of the country, heard of rivers and robbers, his young heart probably failed. Perhaps he thought that he was not called like Paul and Barnabas, and it is also very likely that his natural feelings towards Peter, his spiritual father, who was more to him than either Paul or Barnabas, had something to do with it. So the two men had, henceforth, to journey alone.
8. They travelled on; and probably the journey was such as to lead to the reference which we have in one of the apostles letters to perils of waters, and perils of robbers, perils in the city, and perils by the heathen, etc. At last they got to Antioch in Pisidia. There were a good many Jews in this city. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue, where they were recognised in the synagogue as brethren, though strangers. Their personal appearance indicated, possibly, that they were not ordinary men; or they had been long enough in the town to give rise to some curiosity. After that part of the service was concluded, in which the minister brought out the scroll, and read portions of the law and the prophets, the rulers sent to Paul and Barnabas, saying, If ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on--expressing both national and religious unity, which made the Jewish people one throughout all the world. Paul began by addressing himself both to the Jews and proselytes, and then reasoned out of the Scriptures. Referring to the history of the people, he sketched it from Gods first choice of them, through their fortunes in Egypt and the wilderness, down to the time of David. He then came out with the statement, Of this mans seed hath God raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. He then referred to the ministry of John; the fulfilment of prophecy in the rejection and death of Jesus; and the fact that God had raised Him from the dead. After further reasoning out of the Scriptures, he came to the grand Christian proclamation:--Be it known unto you (verse 38). This was not the end of his speech, but it was the end of his argument; and the Jews who had listened up to this time rose up, were offended, and made for the door. Seeing them pressing out, Paul added the warning Beware (ye who are moving away) lest that come upon you (verses 40, 41). They went their way, but the Gentiles were left, and after Paul had spoken to them, the congregation dispersed. Some of the Gentiles, glad to learn what they had heard, with some of the Jews, accompanied Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them as they went along, and persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. What a week it would be that followed! And the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together. There were many of them who never would have gone under ordinary circumstances, and the Jews were offended. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold (verse 46). When they turned to the Gentiles, every man and woman amongst them who had anything like religious earnestness in them in seeking after eternal life, glorified the word of the Lord, and believed. (T. Binney.)
Barnabas and Paul sent forth
The original destination of Saul of Tarsus, when he was called to the apostleship, was to the heathen--or, as we should now say, to a missionary life (Act_9:15; Act_22:17-21; Gal_2:8; Rom_11:13; Gal_1:16; Eph_3:8). The appointment of Saul and Barnabas to this work was an important event in each of their lives, determining their own future course. It was important as the manifestation of a more just view of Christianity itself; it was the first development of the idea which has since gone so essentially and so far into the civilisation of the world: viz., that Christian nations should send to the heathen a knowledge of that to which they owe their own elevation. The following points here occur as proper to be illustrated.
I. The barriers which hinder the spread of a new religion.
1. Differences of nationality. Where nations belong to different races--where their independence has been established as the result of wars, where they speak diverse languages, where they have different religions, where they have peculiar manners and customs, where they are rivals in trade, where one is warlike and another peaceful--all these, and kindred things, constitute barriers not easy to overcome. Thus to the ancient Jews the whole world was divided, Jews and Gentiles, producing in their minds the feeling that they were the peculiar favourites of heaven, and that all others were outcasts. Thus the Greeks divided the world into Greeks and Barbarians. In modern times, a similar instance occurs among the Chinese, who regard themselves as the children of heaven, the Celestials,--and all others as outside Barbarians. In a world thus divided, any new religion that claims to be universal must find serious obstructions.
2. Distinctions in social life--of rank and caste. These exist within a nation, dividing the rich and the poor--the learned and the ignorant--the bond and the free; or they are based on a derivation from royal blood, an aristocracy or a priesthood.
3. Diversities of colour and complexion. The class favoured with what they deem a fairer complexion, have not only sought to enslave those of a different colour, but they have been slow to believe that, even in the eye of God, a dark skin is not an emblem of a darker debasement than is found under a white one, and seem to imagine that even the blood of the atonement fails to efface the distinction, and to place them in any manner on a level. This is the most formidable barrier of all.
4. Separate religious beliefs. The idea still prevails that the religion of each nation is, by the purpose of the Creator, their own--designed like their laws, customs, climate, mountains, etc., to separate them from other people--a religion good for them; adapted to them; intended for them; and not to be changed for another.
II. The difficulty of overcoming these barriers. This difficulty exists--
1. In those who regard themselves as of the more favoured class. How difficult for them to offer to others the same privileges as themselves, or to admit that others are on the same level! To counteract this narrow feeling in the apostles required all the skill of the Saviour Himself; and after three years teaching it required a special revelation to convince Peter that he should go and carry the gospel to a Gentile.
2. In mens unwillingness to receive a communication in favour of a new religion from one of inferior rank or condition. Who knows not what a mighty obstacle this was when the gospel was preached at Athens, at Ephesus, at Antioch, at Rome? How hard it is for a master to receive the lessons of religion from those whom he regards as slaves--a prince from one of his own subjects--a rich man from a beggar--a philosopher from one occupied in the humbler arts. With what contempt would a Brahmin turn away from one of humbler caste who should undertake to teach him the nature of true religion. The relative condition of nations has changed in our times, and the missionary goes out under better auspices. He goes now from a land of civilisation, and science, and art, to those lands where such things are unknown; yet still this difficulty exists. Take, for illustration, the Chinese. An obstacle exists in their case as stern as in the case of Athens or Rome.
III. The teachings by which Christianity triumphs over these obstacles. It declares--
1. That mankind are one race; the children of a common parent; on a level before God. No truth more vital, more far-reaching, more powerful in its bearing on human rights and human liberty, more potent in elevating man, has ever been proclaimed to the world. Revelation describes the creation of man as the creation of a single pair, and declares that God hath made of one blood all nations of men. The doctrine of depravity which it urges pertains to men everywhere, as derived from the fall of that one pair; and it makes no exception when it says that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. The Redeemer gloried in the title Son of Man, for He came not to take on Him the nature of the Caucasian, the Ethiopian, or the American, as such--but the nature of man.
2. That the work of Christ had respect to all men; and whatever there was in the atonement, as such, was designed for one as much as for another. There is no higher argument that can be addressed to men to prove their equality, than to say to them that they all have been redeemed by the same blood.
3. That the hopes inspired by the gospel are the same for every human being. When it makes known a heaven for one, it unfolds it for all. And it is a great thing to go forth to a world where men are separated from each other, and to say to them that, in the hope of immortality, they are all placed on the same level before their Maker.
4. That the way of salvation is the same for all. No one has any priority of claim by his rank, or enjoys any peculiar facilities for salvation by his titles or his wealth; and no one is excluded, or placed in less favourable circumstances, by his poverty, his ignorance, his servile condition. The prince and the sage are not more welcome to heaven than the poor and ignorant.
5. That all men are invested with the same natural rights to the light of the sun, to the tides, and the winds, and the stars; the same right to limb, and liberty, and life;--the same right to the air, and to the productions of the teeming earth, and to a spot wherein to sleep the long sleep when they are dead.
Conclusion:
1. The gospel cannot be preached without sooner or later breaking down every false distinction.
2. Christians, admire and adore the goodness of that Universal Father who has sent the messages of grace to you, so that you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. Our ancestors were heathens. The gospel raised them from their low condition. Be it ours to spread the religion to which we owe so much. Other nations have a right to it; and it would elevate them as it has done our fathers and ourselves. (A. Barnes, D. D.)
A place found at last for Saul
No place had been found big enough for Saul; Damascus, Jerusalem, Antioch--none of these could hold him. He had to go. There was that irresistible and expansive force about him. To shut him up in those rotten old cities, full of prejudice and artificiality, was like shutting up dynamite in an eggshell. Saul burst his fetters: he was beginning to feel his freedom. The world hunger took possession of him--the wide sea was before him--the future beckoned to him--the time was come and he had to go, and he went eagerly, elated, triumphant. The Church at Antioch probably heaved a great sigh of relief as he departed--they probably saw rocks ahead. (H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
The strength of missionary work
It consists in--
I. The call of God, which it follows.
II. The fidelity of the labourers, whom it sends.
III. The prayer of the Church, on which it relies. (K. Gerok.)
The best travelling attendance for a departing missionary
1. The Divine call concerning him.
2. The impulse of the Spirit within him.
3. The prayers of the Church behind him.
4. The sighing of the heathen world before him. (K. Gerok.)
Missions, home and foreign
A gentleman once said to Dr. Skinner, who was asking aid for foreign missions, I dont believe in foreign missions. I wont give anything except to home missions. I want what I give to benefit my neighbours. Well, the Doctor made reply, whom do you regard as your neighbours? Why, those around me. Do you mean those whose land joins yours? Yes. Well, said Dr. Skinner, how much land do you own? About five hundred acres, was the reply. How far down do you own it? inquired Dr. Skinner. Why, I never thought of it before, but I suppose I am half-way through. Exactly, said the Doctor; I suppose you do, and I want this money for the Chinese--the men whose land joins yours at the bottom.
Obligation of Christians to send out missionaries
A Karen convert in Burmah who was taken to America, and was asked to address a meeting upon their obligation to send out missionaries. After a moment of thought he asked with a good deal of meaning, Has not Christ told you do it? Oh, yes, was the reply, but we wish you to remind them of their duty. Oh, no, said the Karen; if they will not mind Jesus Christ, they will not mind me!
The duty of sending the gospel to the heathen
The possession of the gospel involves the duty of giving it to those who have it not. If the Jewish Christians of the apostolic days had not performed their duty in that respect, we should not have it now. Yet probably they regarded the Gentiles as quite as hopeless as we are apt to regard the savages of Patagonia. When in 1788 William Carey ventured to advocate an effort being made to send the gospel to the heathen, Rev. John Ryland, a venerable minister, reproved him. When God pleases to convert the heathen, said the clergyman, He will do it without your help or mine. But the son of that minister was one of the first to join in the great rejoicing when forty years later William Carey could tell of thousands of heathen who had received the Holy Spirit. The duty might involve difficulty, but he who loved his fellow man, and knew how much good the gospel would do to any who accepted it, would be anxious to preach it at any cost to himself.
Blessing sent to others
Loch Katrine, embowered among the highlands of Scotland, a poem in water, immortalised in story and song, till it seems almost transfigured with a glory beyond its natural beauty and charm, is yet the source of the water supply of the city of Glasgow, flowing down among the homes of the poor, cleansing the filth from the streets, bringing refreshment, cheer, comfort, cleanliness, and health everywhere. So to everyone who has the living water--and all the more if it is possessed amid wealth, culture, education, talent--is given the privilege of sending the living water in copious streams to the heathen, to the poor, to the sinful, to all who are in need.
Work of missions
I remember, when in Wales, seeing the men working in the quarries there. A man is suspended by a rope half-way down the stone quarry, and I have seen him there for a length of time boring a hole in the rock; and after spending much care and toil and time in boring the hole to a sufficient depth, I have seen him fill it with some black dust, and if I did not know what power lodged in that black dust I should say, What a fool that man was to spend so much time in boring a hole in the rock, and then fill it up again! But I know that that black dust is powder. There is a wonderful explosive power in it. And then when he has filled the hole with powder he has applied his fuse and lighted his match, and while the fuse was burning in the direction of the powder he has taken the opportunity of fleeing to a distance by climbing up the rope to the mountain top. Well, that is just what many of our missionaries are doing abroad. At present they are preparing the way. They are cutting a hole into the very rock of heathendom, and they are filling it up with the powder of Divine truth. What we want is fire from heaven to touch it. And God is doing it. He is preparing the people. By and by we shall have a mighty upheaving in this rock of heathenism and ignorance and superstition, and from it polished stones to adorn the temple of our Lord. (R. Roberts.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Chapter 9
Chapter 9
ST. PAULS ORDINATION AND FIRST MISSIONARY TOUR.
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Act_13:2-4; Act_13:14; Act_14:1; Act_14:26
We have now arrived at what we might call the watershed of the Acts of the Apostles. Hitherto we have had very various scenes, characters, personages to consider. Henceforth St. Paul, his labours, his disputes, his speeches, occupy the entire field, and every other name that is introduced into the narrative plays a very subordinate part. This is only natural. St. Luke knew of the earlier history by information gained from various persons, but he knew of the later history, and specially of St. Pauls journeys, by personal experience. He could say that he had formed a portion and played no small part in the work of which he was telling, and therefore St. Pauls activity naturally supplies the chief subject of his narrative. St. Luke in this respect was exactly like ourselves. What we take an active part in, where our own powers are specially called into operation, there our interest is specially aroused. St. Luke personally knew of St. Pauls missionary journeys and labours, and therefore when telling Theophilus of the history of the Church down to the year 60 or thereabouts, he deals with that part of it which he specially knows. This limitation of St. Lukes vision limits also our range of exposition. The earlier portion of the Acts is much richer from an expositors point of view, comprises more typical narratives, scenes, events than the latter portion, though this latter portion may be richer in points of contact, historical and geographical, with the world of life and action.
It is with an expositor or preacher exactly the opposite as with the Church historian or biographer of St. Paul. A writer gifted with the exuberant imagination, the minute knowledge of a Renan or a Farrar naturally finds in the details of travel with which the latter portion of the Acts is crowded matter for abundant discussion. He can pour forth the treasures of information which modern archaeological research has furnished, shedding light upon the movements of the Apostle. But with the preacher or expositor it is otherwise. There are numerous incidents which lend themselves to his purpose in the journeys recorded in this latter portion of the book; but while a preacher might find endless subjects for spiritual exposition in the conversion of St. Paul or the martyrdom of St. Stephen, he finds himself confined to historical and geographical discussions in large portions of the story dealing with St. Pauls journeys. We shall, however, strive to unite both functions, and while endeavouring to treat the history from an expositors point of view, we shall not overlook details of another type which will impart colour and interest to the exposition.
I. The thirteenth chapter of the Acts records the opening of St. Pauls official missionary labours, and its earliest verses tell us of the formal separation or consecration for that work which St. Paul received. Now the question may here be raised, Why did St. Paul receive such a solemn ordination as that we here read of? Had he not been called by Christ immediately? Had he not been designated to the work in Gentile lands by the voice of the same Jesus Christ speaking to Ananias at Damascus and afterward to Paul himself in the Temple at Jerusalem? What was the necessity for such a solemn external imposition of hands as that here recorded? John Calvin, in his commentary on this passage, offers a very good suggestion, and shows that he was able to throw himself back into the feelings and ideas of the times far better than many a modern-writer. Calvin thinks that this revelation of the Holy Ghost and this ordination by the hands of the Antiochene prophets were absolutely necessary to complete the work begun by St. Peter at Caesarea, and for this reason. The prejudices of the Jewish Christians against their Gentile brethren were so strong, that they would regard the vision at Joppa as applying, not as a general rule, but as a mere personal matter, authorising the reception of Cornelius and his party alone. They would not see nor understand that it authorised the active evangelisation of the Gentile world and the prosecution of aggressive Christian efforts among the heathen. The Holy Ghost therefore, as the abiding and guiding power in the Church, and expressing His will through the agency of the prophets then present, said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them"; and that work to which they were expressly sent forth by the Holy Ghost was the work of aggressive effort beginning with the Jews-but not terminating with them-and including the Gentiles. This seems to me thoroughly true, and shows how Calvin realised the intellectual weakness, the spiritual hardness of heart and slowness of judgment which prevailed among the apostles. The battle of Christian freedom and catholic truth was not won in a moment. Old prejudices did not depart in an hour. New principles were not assimilated and applied in a few days. Those who hold nobler views and higher principles than the crowd must not be surprised or dismayed if they find that year after year they have to fight the same battles and to proclaim the same fundamental truths and to maintain what may seem at times even a losing conflict with the forces of unreasoning prejudices. If this was the case in the primitive Church with all its unity and love and spiritual gifts, we may well expect the same state of affairs in the Church of our time.
An illustration borrowed from Church history will explain this. Nothing can well be more completely contrary to the spirit of Christianity than religious persecution. Nothing can be imagined more completely consonant with the spirit of the Christian religion than freedom of conscience. Yet how hard has been the struggle for it! The early Christians suffered in defence of religious freedom, but they had no sooner gained the battle than they adopted the very principle against which they had fought. They became religiously intolerant, because religious intolerance was part and parcel of the Roman state under which they had been reared. The Reformation again was a battle for religious freedom. If it were not, the Reformers who suffered in it would have no more claim to our compassion and sympathy on account of the deaths they suffered than soldiers who die in battle. A soldier merely suffers what he is prepared to inflict, and so it was with the martyrs of the Reformation unless theirs was a struggle for religious freedom. Yet no sooner had the battle of the Reformation been won than all the Reformed Churches adopted the very principle which had striven to crush themselves. It is terribly difficult to emancipate ourselves from the influence and ideas of bygone ages, and so it was with the Jewish Christians. They could not bring themselves to adopt missionary work among the Gentiles. They believed indeed intellectually that God had granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life, but that belief was not accompanied with any of the enthusiasm which alone lends life and power to mental conceptions. The Holy Ghost therefore, as the Paraclete, the loving Comforter, Exhorter, and Guide of the Church, interposes afresh, and by a new revelation ordains apostles whose great work shall consist in preaching to the Gentile world.
There seems to me one great reason for the prominent place this incident at Antioch holds. The work of Gentile conversion proceeded from Antioch, which may therefore well be regarded as the mother Church of Gentile Christendom; and the Apostles of the Gentiles were there solemnly set apart and constituted. Barnabas and Saul were not previously called apostles. Henceforth this title is expressly applied to them, and independent apostolic action is taken by them. But there seems to me another reason why Barnabas and Saul were thus solemnly set apart, notwithstanding all their previous gifts and callings and history. The Holy Ghost wished to lay down at the very beginning of the Gentile Church the law of orderly development, the rule of external ordination, and the necessity for its perpetual observance. And therefore He issued His mandate for their visible separation to the work of evangelisation. All the circumstances too are typical. The Church was engaged in a season of special devotion when the Holy Ghost spoke. A special blessing was vouchsafed, as before at Pentecost, when the people of God were specially waiting upon Him. The Church at Antioch as represented by its leading teachers were fasting and praying and ministering to the Lord when the Divine mandate was issued, and then they fasted and prayed again. The ordination of the first apostles to the Gentiles was accompanied by special prayer and by fasting, and the Church took good care afterwards to follow closely this primitive example. The institution of the four Ember seasons as times for solemn ordinations is derived from this incident. The Ember seasons are periods for solemn prayer and fasting, not only for those about to be ordained, but also for the whole Church, because she recognises that the whole body of Christs people are interested most deeply and vitally in the nature and character of the Christian ministry. If the members of that ministry are devoted, earnest, inspired with Divine love, then indeed the work of Christ flourishes in the Church, while, if the ministry of God be careless and unspiritual, the people of God suffer terrible injury. And we observe, further, that not only the Church subsequent to the apostolic age followed this example at Antioch, but St. Paul himself followed it and prescribed it to his disciples. He ordained elders in every Church, and that from the beginning. He acted thus on his very first missionary journey, ordaining by the imposition of hands accompanied with prayer and fasting, as we learn from the fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse {Acts 14:21}. He reminded Timothy of the gift imparted to that youthful evangelist by the imposition of St. Pauls own hands, as well as by those of the presbytery; and yet he does not hesitate to designate the elders of Ephesus and Miletus who were thus ordained by St. Paul as bishops set over Gods flock by the Holy Ghost Himself. St. Paul and the Apostolic Church, in fact, looked behind this visible scene. They realised vividly the truth of Christs promise about the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church. They took no miserably low and Erastian views of the sacred ministry, as if it were an office of mere human order and appointment. They viewed it as a supernatural and Divine office, which no mere human power, no matter how exalted, could confer. They realised the human instruments indeed in their true position as nothing but instruments, powerless in themselves, and mighty only through God, and therefore St. Paul regarded his own ordination of the elders whom he appointed at Derbe, Iconium, Lystra, or Ephesus as a separation by the Holy Ghost to their Divine offices. The Church was, in fact, then instinct with life and spiritual vigour, because it thankfully recognised the present power, the living force and vigour of the third person of the Holy Trinity.
II. The Apostles, having been thus commissioned, lost no time. They at once departed upon their great work. And now let us briefly indicate the scope of the first great missionary tour undertaken by St. Paul, and sketch its outline, filling in the details afterwards. According to early tradition the headquarters of the Antiochene Church were in Singon Street, in the southern quarter of Antioch. After earnest and prolonged religious services they left their Christian brethren. St. Pauls own practice recorded at Ephesus, Miletus, and at Tyre shows us that prayer marked such separation from the Christian brethren, and we know that the same practice was perpetuated in the early Church; Tertullian, for instance, telling us that a brother should not leave a Christian house until he had been commended to Gods keeping. They then crossed the bridge, and proceeded along the northern bank of the Orontes to Seleucia, the port of Antioch, where the ruins still testify to the vastness of the architectural conceptions cherished by the Syrian kings. From Seleucia the apostles sailed to the island of Cyprus, whose peaks they could see eighty miles distant, shining bright and clear through the pellucid air. Various circumstances would lead them thither. Barnabas was of Cyprus, and he doubtless had many friends there. Cyprus had then an immense Jewish population, as we have already pointed out; and though the apostles were specially designated for work among the Gentiles, they ever made the Jews the starting-point whence to influence the outside world, always used them as the lever whereby to move the stolid mass of paganism. The apostles showed a wholesome example to all missionaries and to all teachers by this method of action. They addressed the Jews first because they had most in common with them. And St. Paul deliberately and of set purpose worked on this principle, whether with Jews or Gentiles. He sought out the ideas or the ground common to himself and his hearers, and then, having found the points on which they agreed, he worked out from them. It is the true method of controversy. I have seen the opposite course adopted, and with very disastrous effects. I have seen a method of controversial argument pursued, consisting simply in attacks upon errors without any attempt to follow the apostolic example and discover the truths which both parties held in common, and the result has been the very natural one that ill-will and bad feeling have been aroused without effecting any changes in conviction. We can easily understand the reason of this, if we consider how the matter would stand with ourselves. If a man comes up to us, and without any attempt to discover our ideas or enter into sympathetic relations with us, makes a very aggressive assault upon all our particular notions and practices, our backs are at once put up, we are thrown into a defensive mood, our pride is stirred, we resent the tone, the air of the aggressor, and unconsciously determine not to be convinced by him. Controversial preaching of that class, hard, unloving, censorious, never does any permanent good, but rather strengthens and confirms the person against whose belief it is directed. Nothing of this kind will ever be found in the wise, courteous teaching of the apostle Paul, whose few recorded speeches to Jews and Gentiles may be commended to the careful study of all teachers at home or abroad as models of mission preaching, being at once prudent and loving, faithful and courageous.
From Seleucia the apostles itinerated through the whole island unto Paphos, celebrated in classical antiquity as the favourite seat of the goddess Venus, where they came for the first time into contact with a great Roman official, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of the island. From Paphos they sailed across to the mainland of Asia Minor, landed at Perga, where John Mark abandoned the work to which he had put his hand. They do not seem to have stayed for long at Perga. They doubtless declared their message at the local synagogue to the Jews and proselytes who assembled there, for we are not to conclude, because a synagogue is not expressly mentioned as belonging to any special town, that therefore it did not exist. Modern discoveries have shown that Jewish synagogues were found in every considerable town or city of Asia Minor, preparing the way by their pure morality and monotheistic teaching for the fuller and richer truths of Christianity. But St. Paul had fixed his eagle gaze upon Antioch of Pisidia, a town which had been made by Augustus Caesar the great centre of this part of Asia Minor, whence military roads radiated in every direction, lending thereby the assistance of imperial organisation to the progress of the gospel. Its situation was, in fact, the circumstance which determined the original foundation of Antioch by the Syrian princes.
Facility of access, commercial convenience were points at which they chiefly aimed in selecting the sites of the cities they built, and the wisdom of their choice in the case of Antioch in Pisidia was confirmed when Augustus and Tiberius, some few years previous to St. Pauls visit, made Antioch the centre from which diverged the whole system of military roads throughout this portion of Asia Minor. It was a very large city, and its ruins and aqueducts testify to this day concerning the important position it held as the great centre of all the Roman colonies and fortresses which Augustus planted in the year B.C. 6 along the skirts of the Taurus Range to restrain the incursions of the rude mountaineers of Isauria and Pisidia. When persecution compelled the apostles to retire from Antioch they took their way therefore to Iconium, which was some sixty miles southeast of Antioch along one of those military roads of which we have spoken, constructed for the purpose of putting down the brigands which then, as in modern times, constituted one of the great plagues of Asia Minor. But why did the apostles retire to Iconium? Surely one might say, if the Jews had influence enough at Antioch to stir up the chief men of the city against the missionaries, they would have had influence enough to secure a warrant for their arrest in a neighbouring city. At first sight it seems somewhat difficult to account for the line of travel or flight adopted by the apostles. But a reference to ancient geography throws some light upon the problem. Strabo, a geographer of St. Pauls own day, tells us that Iconium was an independent principality or tetrarchy, surrounded indeed on all sides by Roman territory, but still enjoying a certain amount of independence. The apostles fled to Iconium when persecution waxed hot because they had a good road thither, and also because at Iconium they were secure from any legal molestation, being under a new jurisdiction.
After a time, however, the Jews from Antioch made their way to Iconium and began the same process which had proved so successful at Antioch. They first excited the members of the Jewish synagogue against the apostles, and through them influenced the townspeople at large, so that, though successful in winning converts, St. Paul and his companion were in danger of being stoned by a joint mob of Jews and Gentiles. They had therefore to fly a second time, and when doing so they acted on the same principle as before. They again removed themselves out of the local jurisdiction of their enemies, and passed to Derbe and Lystra, cities of Lycaonia, a Roman province which had just been formed by the Emperor Claudius.
Then after a time, when the disturbances which the Jews persistently raised wherever they came had subsided, the apostles turned back over the same ground, no longer indeed publicly preaching, but organising quietly and secretly the Churches which they had founded in the different towns through which they had passed, till they arrived back at Perga, Where perhaps, finding no ship sailing to Antioch, they travelled to the port of Attalia, where they succeeded in finding a passage to that city of Antioch whence they had been sent forth. This brief sketch will gave a general view of the first missionary tour made in the realms of paganism, and will show that it dealt with little more than two provinces of Asia Minor, Pisidia and Lycaonia, and was followed by what men would count but scanty results, the foundation and organisation of a few scattered Christian communities in some of the leading towns of these districts.
III. Let us now more particularly notice some of the details recorded concerning this journey. The apostles began their work at Cyprus, where they proclaimed the gospel in the Jewish synagogues. They were attracted as we have said to this island, first, because it was the native land of Barnabas, and then because its population was in large degree Jewish, owing to the possession of the famous copper mines of the island by Herod the Great. Synagogues were scattered all over the island and proselytes appertained to each synagogue, and thus a basis of operations was ready whence the gospel message might operate. It was just the same even at Paphos, where St. Paul came in contact with the proconsul Sergius Paulus. The Jewish element here again appears, though in more active opposition than seems to have been elsewhere offered. Sergius Paulus was a Roman citizen like Cornelius of Caesarea. He had become dissatisfied with the belief of his forefathers. He had now come into contact with the mystic East, and had yielded himself to the guidance of a man who professed the Jewish religion, which seems to have charmed by its pure morality and simple monotheism many of the noblest minds of that age. But, like all outsiders, Sergius Paulus did not make accurate and just distinctions between man and man. He yielded himself to the guidance of a man who traded on the name of a Jew, but who really practised those rites of weird sorcery which real Judaism utterly repudiated and denounced. This alone accounts for the stern language of St. Paul: "O full of all guile and all villainy, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" St. Paul never addressed a lawful opponent in this manner. He did not believe in the efficacy of strong language in itself, nor did he abuse those who withstood him in honest argument. But he did not hesitate, on the other hand, to brand a deceiver as he deserved, or to denounce in scathing terms those who were guilty of conscious fraud. St. Paul might well be taken as a model controversialist in this respect. He knew how to distinguish between the genuine opponent who might be mistaken but was certainly conscientious, and the fraudulent hypocrite devoid of all convictions save the conviction of the value of money. With the former St. Paul was full of courtesy, patience, consideration, because he had in himself experience of the power of blind unthinking prejudice. For the latter class St. Paul had no consideration, and with them he wasted no time. His honest soul took their measure at once. He denounced them as he did Elymas on this occasion, and then passed on to deal with nobler and purer souls, where honest and good hearts offered more promising soil for the reception of the Word of the Kingdom. Controversy of every kind is very trying to tongue and temper, but religious controversy such as that in which St. Paul spent his life is specially trying to the character. The subject is so important that it seems to excuse an over zeal and earnestness which terminates in bad temper and unwise language. And yet we sometimes cannot shrink from controversy, because conscience demands it on our part. When that happens to be the case, it will be well for us to exercise the most rigorous control over our feelings and our words; from time to time to realise by a momentary effort of introspection Christ hanging upon the cross and bearing for us the unworthy and unjust reproaches of mankind; for thus and thus only will pride be kept down and hot temper restrained and that great advantage for the truth secured which self-control always bestows upon its possessor.
There is an interesting illustration of the historic accuracy of St. Luke connected with the apostolic visit to Paphos and to Sergius Paulus the proconsul. Thrice over in the narrative of St. Luke, Sergius Paulus is called proconsul-first in the seventh verse of the thirteenth chapter, where Elymas the sorcerer is described thus, "who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding," while again the same title of proconsul is applied to Sergius in the eighth and twelfth verses. This has been the cause of much misunderstanding and of no small reproach hurled against the sacred writer. Let us inquire into its justice and the facts of the case. The Roman provinces were divided into two classes, senatorial and imperial. The senatorial provinces were ruled by proconsuls appointed by the Senate; the imperial by pro-praetors appointed by the emperors. This arrangement was made by Augustus Caesar, and is reported to us by Strabo, who lived and wrote during St. Pauls early manhood. But now a difficulty arises. Strabo gives us the list of the provinces senatorial and imperial alike, and expressly classes Cyprus amongst the imperial provinces, which were ruled by propraetors and not by proconsuls. In the opinion of the older critics, St. Luke was thus plainly convicted of a mistake and of a flagrant contradiction of that great authority the geographer Strabo. But it is never safe to jump to conclusions of that kind with respect to a contemporaneous writer who has proved himself accurate on other occasions. It is far better and far safer to say, Let us wait a while, and see what further investigations will reveal. And so it has proved in this special case. Strabo tells us of the original arrangement made about thirty years B.C. between the Emperor Augustus and the Senate, when Cyprus was most certainly numbered amongst the imperial provinces; but he omits to tell us what another historian of the same century, Dion Cassius, does relate, that the same Emperor modified this arrangement five years later, handing Cyprus and Gallia Narbo-nensis over to the rule of the Senate, so that from that date and henceforth throughout the first century of our era Cyprus was governed by proconsuls alone, as St. Luke most accurately, though only incidentally, reports. Here, too the results of modern investigation among inscriptions and coins have come in to supplement and support the testimony of historians. The Greek inscriptions discovered prior to and during the earlier half of this century have been collected together in Boeckhs "Corpus of Greek Inscriptions," which is, indeed, a vast repertory of original documents concerning the life, Pagan and Christian, of the Greek world. In the inscriptions numbered 2631 and 2632 in that valuable work we have the names of Q. Julius Cordus and L. Annius Bassus expressly mentioned as proconsuls of Cyprus in A.D. 51, 52; while on coins of Cyprus have been found the names of Cominius Proclus and Quadratus, who held the same office. But the very latest investigations have borne striking testimony to the same fact. The name of the very proconsul whom St. Paul addressed appears on an inscription discovered in our own time. Cyprus has been thoroughly investigated since it passed into British hands, specially by General Cesnola, who has written a work on the subject which is well worth reading by those who take an interest in Scripture lands and the scenes where the apostles laboured. In that work, p. 425, Cesnola tells us of a mutilated inscription which he recovered dealing with some subject of no special importance, but bearing the following precious notice giving its date as "Under Paulus the Proconsul"; proving to us by contemporary evidence that Sergius Paulus ruled the island, and ruled it with the special title of proconsul. Surely an instance like this-and we shall have several such to notice-is quite enough to make fair minds suspend their judgment when charges of inaccuracy are alleged against St. Luke dependent upon our own ignorance alone of the entire facts of the case. A wider knowledge, a larger investigation we may well be sure will suffice to clear the difficulty and vindicate the fair fame of the sacred historian.
From Cyprus the apostles passed over to the continent, and opened their missionary work at Antioch of Pisidia, where the first, recorded address of St. Paul was delivered. This sermon, delivered in the Pisidian synagogue, is deserving of our special notice because it is the only missionary address delivered by St. Paul to the Jews of the Dispersion which has been handed down to us, unless we include the few words delivered to the Roman Jews reported in the twenty-eighth chapter from the seventeenth to the twenty-eighth verses. Let us briefly analyse it, premising that it should be carefully compared with the addresses of St. Peter to the Jews upon the Day of Pentecost and with the speech delivered by St. Stephen before the Sanhedrin, when all three will be found to run upon the same lines.
The apostles having reached Antioch waited until the Sabbath came round, and then sought the local meeting-place of the Jews. The apostles felt indeed that they were intrusted with a great mission important for the human race, but yet they knew right well that feverish impetuosity or restless activity was not the true way to advance the cause they had in hand. They did not believe in wild irregular actions which only stir up opposition. They were calm and dignified in their methods, because they were consciously guided by the Divine Spirit of Him concerning whom it was said in the days of His flesh, "He did not strive nor cry, neither did any man hear His voice in the streets." On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue, and took their place on a bench set apart for the reception of those who were regarded as teachers. At the conclusion of the public worship and the reading of the lessons out of the law and the prophets, such as still are read in the synagogue worship, the Rulers of the Synagogue sent to them the minister or apostle of the synagogue, intimating their permission to address the assembled congregation, whereupon St. Paul arose and delivered an address, of which the following is an analysis. St. Paul opened his sermon by a reference to the lessons which had just been read in the service, which-as all the writers of the Apostles life, Lewin, Conybeare and Howson, and Archdeacon Farrar, agree-were taken from the first chapter of Deuteronomy and the first of Isaiah. He points out, as St. Stephen had done, the providential dealings of God with their forefathers from the time of the original choice of Abraham down to David. The Jews had been divinely guided throughout their history down to Davids days, and that Divine guidance had not then ceased, but continued down to the present, as the Apostle then proceeds to show. In Davids seed there had been left a hope for Israel Which every true Jew still cherished. He then announces that the long-cherished hope had now at last been fulfilled. This fact depended not on his testimony alone. The Messiah whom they had long expected had been preceded by a prophet whose reputation had spread into these distant regions, and had gained disciples, as we shall afterwards find, at Ephesus. John the Baptist had announced the Messiahs appearance, and proclaimed his own inferiority to Him. But then an objection occurs to the Apostle which might naturally be raised. If Johns reputation and doctrine had penetrated to Antioch, the story of the crucifixion of Jesus may also have been reported there, and the local Jews may therefore have concluded that such an ignominious death was conclusive against the claims of Jesus. The Apostle then proceeds to show how that the providential rule of God had been exercised even in that matter. The wrath of man had been compelled to praise God, and even while the rulers at Jerusalem were striving to crush Jesus Christ they were in reality fulfilling the voices of the prophets which went beforehand and proclaimed the sufferings of the Messiah exactly as they had happened. And further still, God had set His seal to the truth of the story by raising Jesus Christ from the dead according to the predictions of the Old Testament, which he expounds after the manner of the Jewish schools, finding a hint of the Resurrection of Christ in Isa_55:3 : "I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David"; and a still clearer one Psa_16:10 : "Thou wilt not give Thine Holy One to see corruption." The Apostle, after quoting this text, which from its use by St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost seems to have been a passage commonly quoted in the Jewish controversy, terminates his discourse with a proclamation of the exalted blessings which the Messiah has brought, indicating briefly but clearly the universal character of the gospel promises, and finishing with a warning against stupid obstinate resistance drawn from Hab_1:5, which primarily referred to the disbelief in impending Chaldaean invasion exhibited by the Jews, but which the Apostle applies to the Jews of Antioch and their spiritual dangers arising from similar wilful obstinacy.
We have of course not much more than the heads of the apostolic sermon. Five or seven minutes of a not very rapid speaker would amply suffice to exhaust the exact words attributed to St. Paul. He must have enlarged on the various topics. He could not have introduced John the Baptist in the abrupt manner in which he is noticed in the text of our New Testament. It seems quite natural enough to us that he should be thus named, because John occupies a very high and exalted position in our mental horizon from our earliest childhood. But who was John the Baptist for these Jewish settlers in the Pisidian Antioch? He was simply a prophet of whom they may have heard a vague report, who appeared before Israel for a year or two, and then suffered death at the hands of Herod the Tetrarch: and so it must have been with many other topics introduced into this discourse.
They must have been much more copiously treated, elaborated, discussed, or else the audience in the Pisidian synagogue must have loved concentrated discourse more keenly than any other assembly that ever met together. And yet, though the real discourse must have been much longer-and did we only possess the sermon in its fulness many a difficultywhich now puzzles us would disappear at once-we can still see the line of the apostolic argument and grasp its force. The Apostle argues, in fact, that God had chosen the original fathers of the Jewish race. He had gone on conferring ever fresh and larger blessings in the wilderness, in Canaan, under the Judges, and then under the Kings, till the time of David, from whose seed God had raised up the greatest gift of all in the person of Jesus Christ, through whom blessings unknown before and unsurpassed were offered to mankind. St. Paul contends exactly as St Stephen had done, that true religion has been a perpetual advance and development; that Christianity is not something distinct from Judaism, but is essentially one with it, being the flower of a plant which God Himself had planted, the crown and glory of the work which He had Himself begun. This address, as we have already noticed, will repay careful study; for it shows the methods adopted by the early Christian when dealing with the Jews. They did not attack any of their peculiar views or practices, but confining themselves to what they held in common strove to convince them that Christianity was the logical outcome of their own principles.
The results of this address were very indicative of the future. The Jews of the synagogue seem to have been for a time impressed by St. Pauls words. Several of them, together with a number of the proselytes, attached themselves to him as his disciples, and were further instructed in the faith. The proselytes especially must have been attracted by the Apostles words. They were, like Cornelius, Proselytes of the Gate, who observed merely the seven precepts of Noah and renounced idolatry, but were not circumcised or subject to the restrictions and duties of the Jewish ritual. They must have welcomed tidings of a religion embodying all that which they venerated in the Jewish Law and yet devoid of its narrowness and disadvantages.
Next Sabbath the whole city was stirred with excitement, and then Jewish jealousy burst into a flame. They saw that their national distinctions and glory were in danger. They refused to listen or permit any further proclamation of what must have seemed to them a revolutionary teaching, disloyal to the traditions and existence of their religion and their nation. They used their influence therefore with the chief men of the city, exercising it through their wives, who were in many cases attracted by the Jewish worship, or who may have been themselves of Jewish birth, and the result was that the apostles were driven forth to preach in other cities of the same central region of Asia Minor. This was the first attack made by the Jews upon St. Paul in his mission journeys. He had already had experience of their hostility at Damascus and at Jerusalem, but this hostility was doubtless provoked by reason of their resentment at the apostasy to the Nazarene sect of their chosen champion. But here at Antioch we perceive the first symptom of that bitter hostility to St. Paul because of his catholic principles, his proclamation of salvation as open to all alike, Jew or Gentile, free from any burdensome or restrictive conditions, a hostility which we shall find persistently pursuing him, both within the Church, and still more without the Church at Iconium, at Lystra, at Thessalonica, at Corinth, and at Jerusalem. It would seem indeed as if the invention of the term "Christian" at Antioch marked a crisis in the history of the early Church. Henceforth St. Paul and his friends became the objects of keenest hatred, because the Jews had recognised that they taught a form of belief absolutely inconsistent with the Jewish faith as hitherto known; a hatred which seems, however, to have been limited to St. Paul and his Antiochene friends, for the temporising measures and the personal prejudices, the whole atmosphere, in fact, of the Jerusalem Church led the unbelieving Jews to make a broad distinction between the disciples at Jerusalem and the followers of St. Paul.
IV. So far we have dealt with St. Pauls address at Antioch as typical of his methods in dealing with the Jews, and their treatment of the Apostle as typical of that hostility which the Jews ever displayed to the earliest teachers of Christian truth, as witnessed not only by the New Testament, but also by the writings and histories of Justin Martyr, and of Polycarp of Smyrna, and of all the early apologists. But we are not left in this typical Church history without a specimen of St. Pauls earlier methods when dealing with the heathen. St. Paul, after his rejection at Antioch, escaped to Iconium, sixty miles distant, and thence, when Jewish persecution again waxed hot, betook himself to Lystra, some forty miles to the south. There the Apostle found himself in a new atmosphere and amid new surroundings. Antioch and Iconium had large Jewish populations, and were permeated with Jewish ideas. Lystra was a thoroughly Gentile town with only a very few Jewish inhabitants. The whole air of the place-its manners, customs, popular legends-was thoroughly pagan. This offered St. Paul a new field for his activity, of which he availed himself right diligently, finishing up his work with healing a lifelong cripple, a miracle which so impressed the mob of Lystra that they immediately cried out in the native speech of Lycaonia, "The gods are coming down to us in the likeness of men," calling Barnabas Jupiter, on account of his lofty stature and more commanding appearance, and Paul Mercurius or Hermes, because of his more insignificant size and more copious eloquence. Here again we have, in our writers words, an incidental and even unconscious witness to the truth of our narrative. The cry of the men of Lystra, these rude barbarian people of the original inhabitants of the land, who, though they could understand Greek, naturally fell back on their native Lycaonian language to express their deeper feelings, -this cry, I say, refers to an ancient legend connected with their history, of which we find a lengthened account in the works of the poet Ovid. Jupiter attended by Mercury once descended to visit the earth and see how man was faring. Some scoffed at the deities, and were punished. Others received them, and were blessed accordingly. The wondrous work performed on the cripple naturally led the men of Lystra to think that the Divine Epiphany had been repeated. The colony of Lystra-for Lystra was a Roman colony-was devoted to the worship of Jupiter, in memory doubtless of this celebrated visit. A temple to Jupiter stood before and outside the gate of the city, as the temple of Diana stood outside the gate of Ephesus, lending sanctity and protection to the neighbouring town. The priest and the people act upon the spur of the moment. They bring victims and garlands prepared to offer sacrifice to the deities who, as they thought, had revisited their ancient haunts. They were approaching the house where the apostles were dwelling-perhaps that of Lois and Eunice and Timothy-when Paul sprang forward and delivered a short impassioned address deprecating the threatened adoration. Let us quote the address in order that we may see its full force: "Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you. good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways.. And yet He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." How very different St. Pauls words to the pagans are from those he addressed to the Jews and proselytes, believers in the true God and in the facts of revelation! He proves himself a born orator, able to adapt himself to different classes of hearers, and, grasping their special ideas and feelings, to suit his arguments to their various conditions. St. Pauls short address on this occasion may be compared with his speech to the men of Athens, and the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and the various apologies composed by the earliest advocates of Christianity during the second century. Take, for instance, the Apology of Aristides, of which we gave an account in the preface to the first Part of this commentary on the Acts. We shall find, when we examine it and compare it with the various passages of Scripture to which we have just referred, that all run upon exactly the same lines. They all appeal to the evidence of nature and of natural religion. They say not one word about Scripture concerning which their hearers know nothing. They are not like unwise Christian advocates among ourselves who think they can overthrow an infidel with a text out of Scripture, begging the question at issue, the very point to be decided being this, whether there is such a thing at all as Scripture. St. Paul does with the men of Lystra and the men of Athens what Aristides did when writing for the Emperor Hadrian, and what every wise missionary will still do with the heathen or the unbeliever whose salvation he is seeking. The Apostle takes up the ground that is common to himself and his hearers. He shows them the unworthiness of the conception they have formed of the Godhead. He appeals to the testimony of Gods works and to the interior witness of conscience prophesying perpetually in the secret tabernacle of mans heart, and thus appealing in Gods behalf to the eternal verities and evidences of nature exterior and interior to man, he vindicates the Divine authority, glorifies the Divine character, and restrains the capricious and ignorant folly of the men of Lystra.
Lastly, we find in this narrative two typical suggestions for the missionary activity of the Church in every age. The men of Lystra with marvellous facility soon changed their opinion concerning St. Paul. M. Renan has well pointed out that to the pagans of those times a miracle was no necessary proof of a Divine mission. It was just as easily a proof to them of a diabolical or magical power. The Jews, therefore, who followed St. Paul, had no difficulty in persuading the men of Lystra that this assailant of their hereditary deities was a mere charlatan, a clever trickster moved by wicked powers to lead them astray. Their character and reputation as Jews, worshippers of one God alone, would lend weight to this charge, and enable them the more easily to effect their purpose of killing St. Paul, in which they had failed at Antioch and Iconium. The fickle mob easily lent themselves to the purposes of the Jews, and having stoned St. Paul dragged his body outside the city walls, thinking him dead. A few faithful disciples followed the crowd, however. Perhaps, too, the eirenarch or local police authority with his subordinates had interfered, and the rioters, apprehensive of punishment for their disturbance of the peace, had retired. As the disciples stood around weeping for the loss they had sustained, the Apostle awoke from the swoon into which he had fallen, and was carried into the city by the faithful few, among whom doubtless were Timothy and his parents. Lystra, however, was no longer safe for St. Paul. He retired, therefore, some twenty miles to Derbe, where he continued for some time labouring with success, till the storm and the excitement had subsided at Lystra. Then he turned back over the same ground which he had already traversed, he might have pushed on along the great Eastern Road, nigh as Derbe was to the passes through the Taurus Range which led directly to Cilicia and Tarsus. He wished to go back indeed to Antioch. He had been a year or so absent on this first excursion into the vast fields of Gentile paganism. Wider and more extensive missions had now to be planned. The wisdom gained by personal experience had now to be utilised in consultation with the brethren. But still a work had to be done in Lycaonia and Pisidia if the results of his labours were not to be lost. He had quitted in great haste each town he had visited, forced out by persecution, and leaving the organisation of the Church incomplete. St. Paul came, like his Master, not merely to proclaim a doctrine: he came still more to found and organise a Divine society. He turns therefore back again along the route he had first taken, he does not preach in public, nor run any risks of raising riots anew. His work is now entirely of a character interior to the Church. He strengthens the disciples by his teaching, he points out that earthly trials and persecutions are marks of Gods love and favour rather than tokens of His wrath, he notes for them that it is needful "through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of God," and above all he secures the permanence of his work by ordaining presbyters after the fashion of the Church at Antioch, with prayer and fasting and imposition of hands. This is one great typical lesson taught us here by St. Pauls return journey through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia. Preaching and evangelistic work are important; but pastoral work and Church consolidation and Church order are equally important, if any permanent fruits are to be garnered and preserved. And the other typical lesson is implied in the few words wherein the termination of his first great missionary journey is narrated. "When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; and thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled."
Antioch was the centre whence Paul and Barnabas had issued forth to preach among the Gentiles, and to Antioch the apostles returned to cheer the Church with the narrative of their labours and successes, and to restore themselves and their exhausted powers with the sweetness of Christian fellowship, of brotherly love and kindness such as then flourished, as never before or since, amongst the children of men. Mission work such as St. Paul did on this great, tour is very exhausting, and it can always be best performed from a great centre. Mission work, evangelistic work of any kind, if it is to be successful, makes terrible demands on mans whole nature, physical, mental, spiritual, and bodily. The best restorative for that nature when so exhausted is conversation and intercourse with men of like minds, such as St. Paul found when, returning to Antioch, he cheered the hearts and encouraged the hopes of the Church by narrating the wonders he had seen done and the triumphs he had seen won through the power of the Holy Ghost.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 2. As they ministered. These men worshiped before the…
2. As they ministered. These men worshiped before the Lord, fasting, and no doubt asking for guidance in the extension of Christianity. The Holy Ghost said. By an inspiration given to some one of these prophets. “God has spoken at sundry times and in divers manners unto the fathers by the one of these prophets.” Compare 20:23. Separate me Barnabas and Saul. Both had been tried and shown to be worthy. They are now, by Divine direction, to be formally consecrated to the work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. From this time Antioch is the great missionary center. Whereunto I have called them. God called; men separated, or formally set apart.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 2. This verse says that they were “ministering to…
2. This verse says that they were “ministering to the Lord and fasting” when the Holy Ghost spoke to them. Hence we see that the Lord approves and blesses fasting. So if you want to get far away from the world, the flesh and the devil, fast as well as pray.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain 2, 3. (2) " As they were ministering to…
2, 3. (2) " As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate for me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them. (3) And when they had fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. " This command of the Holy Spirit is not the call of Barnabas and Saul to their peculiar work, but refers to a call which had been previously given. It shows that Barnabas as well as Saul had received a special call to labor among the Gentiles. They had, hitherto, most probably, been associated together mainly through geniality of spirit. This geniality may also have furnished the main reason why they were directed by the Holy Spirit to continued their labors together.
The design of the ceremony of fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands observed on this occasion is variously understood. There are only two interpretations of it which are worthy of notice. First, it is assumed that the design was to confer on Barnabas and Saul the power of working miracles. The only proof offered in support of this assumption is the fact that neither of them is said to have wrought miracles previous to this time, while they both exhibited miraculous powers shortly after. But this is to argue from the silence of the Scriptures, and is, necessarily, inconclusive. They may have worked miracles before this time, notwithstanding this silence. In the case of Saul, indeed, there is almost positive proof that he did so. The Lord had given him a special commission as an apostle when he first appeared to him on the way to Damascus, and Ananias was sent to him that he "might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. " Immediately after his immersion he began to discharge his apostolic office, and had been thus engaged three years previous to his first return to Jerusalem. Another whole year had been spent in the same work in Antioch, besides the interval of his residence in Tarsus. But an essential mark of the apostolic office was the power to work miracles. This Paul himself assumes, in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, among whom his apostleship has been denied. As conclusive proof of his apostleship, he says, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you, in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. " If these signs are the proof of apostleship, then he must have been able to exhibit them from the time that he began to be an apostle; and this was more than four years previous to the imposition of hands by the prophets and teachers in Antioch. This fact, coupled with the statement of Ananias, that he was sent to him that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit, indicates clearly that his miraculous endowments dated from his immersion. The first supposition, then, in reference to the design of the ceremony we are considering, proves to be not only unfounded, but inconsistent with the facts of the case.
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The second, and doubtless the true interpretation, is this: That the imposition of hands, accompanied by fasting and prayer, was, in this case, as in that of the seven deacons, merely their formal separation to the special work to which they had been called. This, indeed, is sufficiently evident from the context. What they did was doubtless what they had been told to do by the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit simply said to them, " Separate me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them." The fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands was, then, merely their separation to this work. It was a ceremony deemed by infinite wisdom suitable to such a purpose; and, therefore, whenever a congregation has a similar purpose to accomplish, they have, in this case, the judgments and will of God, which should be their guide.
The solemn simplicity of this apostolic ceremony stands in striking contrast with the pompous mummery which often characterizes "ordination" services in modern Churches. No less striking is the contrast between the humility of Saul and the ambitious spirit of many modern clergyman who are extremely exacting in reference to the punctilios of ecclesiastical rank. Though an apostle by special commission, he was "ordained" by his humble fellow-laborers in Antioch. This fact shows that the idea of superior rank and authority had not then begun the work of ruin which it has since accomplished, in filling the minds of preachers with the same lust of office and power which characterizes the intrigues of political partisans.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.