25.

Then departed Bar'na-bas
And he went forth
And
and

to 1Tar'sus'

to seek for

for to seek Saul:

it came to pass, that

even for

And

were gathered together

26. when he had found him, he brought him unto An'tĭ-ŏch. assembled themselves a whole year they a with the church, and taught much people; and that the disciples were called Chris'tians first in An'tí-ŏch.

1 Acts 9: 30.

a Or, in the church.

Jews, and through others as well as himself. He had the beauty of holiness, the graces of religion. Full of the Holy Ghost. He lived in the Spirit, and was endowed with power by the Spirit. And of faith. Perfect trust in the Lord, perfect confidence that Jesus was the Messiah; perfect devotion to his cause. He preached what he most heartily believed. And much people was added unto the Lord. Through the labors of such a good man. All his exhortations had the power of a good man behind them.

III. Paul comes to the Assistance of the Antioch Church. Vs. 25, 26. 25. Then departed Barnabas. (1) The great success of Barnabas brought more work than he could do alone, more open doors than he could enter, more opportunities than he could use. The fields were white to the harvest, and the laborers were few. (2) There was need of counsel and great wisdom to guide the new church aright, especially as there were two elements in the church. (3) There was need of another element, of instruction and training in doctrine, than Barnabas' special talents would provide. And Barnabas was wise enough to see this, and good enough to provide for it. To Tarsus, for to seek Saul. "Luke in 9: 30 mentions that Saul was sent away to Tarsus; and he now takes up the thread from that point. . . He implies that the reader must understand Tarsus to have been Saul's headquarters during the intervening period.". - Ramsay. See also Paul's own statement in Gal. 1: 21, 22.

It was during these years that Paul had the visions and revelations spoken of in 2 Cor. 12: 1-5, which may have prepared him for his great work. 2 Corinthians was written A. D. 56-58, and the revelations occurred more than fourteen years before, or in 42 or 43.

26. A whole year they (Barnabas and Paul) assembled themselves with the church (at their places of worship), and taught. The young church, just delivered from heathenism, had especial need of instruction.

NOTE the true Christian spirit in this whole movement. Two opposite tendencies of mind worked together because both were needed in the training of that young church, as in every church to-day. Barnabas was full of heart, of enthusiasm, of appeal to the feelings, of inspiration, of help for the poor, of comfort for the afflicted, of encouragement for the weak. He, equally with Paul, held the truth and loved the truth, but his mind worked in a very different manner. Paul was logical, though it was logic on fire. He reasoned out everything, he was educated and trained in the truth. He was enthusiastic, but he never abandoned himself to his enthusiasm. Each supplemented the other. More people would be reached by both than by either one alone. They needed the mutual influence of one upon the other.

NOTE. Each one was good enough and great enough to recognize the good in the other. One of the greatest dangers of the modern church lies in the fact that so many strong men, in certain directions, are not large enough and broad enough to see the value of the minds that differ from theirs. Theological professors write sneers in their books concerning great evangelists. And sometimes evangelists do not recognize the good in the methods of the professors. In each case it simply proclaims their own narrowness.

CHRISTIANS. The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Not by the Jews who would not recognize Jesus as Christ, that is, Messiah, but by the people outside

the disciples. "It belongs to popular slang." Ramsay. "To the keen-witted populace of Antioch already famous for their bestowal of nicknames.' Knowling. So "Methodist" and "Puritan were names first given in ridicule, and then transfigured by those who bore them.

Were called (Xpnμarioai) meant originally to transact business, and later, to bear a name, used in business transactions, a firm name, as not a few of our names originated, such as John the Smith, Peter the Cooper, James the Carpenter. The special characteristic of the disciples was that they belonged to Christ. Dr. Cox suggests that the word was applied to Christians as making Christianity the daily business of their lives. This is true, but, as Professor Vincent says, it is forced as a deduction from this word.

Christians, Xploriavovs. Christ, with the termination ianos, not a Latin termination,

And in these days there An'tí-ŏch.

28. And there stood up one of them named 2 Ag'ă-bŭs, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the a world: which came to pass in the days of Clau'di-us

29

Spirit

And

a

famine over Cæ'sar.

Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Jū-dæ'a :

sending

that

30. 4 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Bar'na-băs and Saul.

Acts 2: 17; 13: 1; 15: 32; 1 Cor. 12: 28. 2 Acts 21: 10.

3 Rom. 15: 26; 1 Cor. 16: 1.
4 Acts 12: 25.

a Greek, the inhabited earth.

though such a termination was often used in Latin, but probably Greek, like the Christ, to which it is attached. It has been shown to be common among the Greeks. Later Christianos was modified to Chrestianos (both words being pronounced alike). The latter means useful, helpful, and is found on some inscriptions. One very like it, but imperfect, has been found in Pompeii.

PRACTICAL. 1. Let us keep Christ's name, disciples, learners, and the new name Christian, to show that a Christian is always a learner.

2. "Do nothing to the reproach of that worthy name by which we are called; that that may not be said to us, which Alexander said to a soldier of his own name, that was noted for a coward, Either change thy name or mend thy manners.'" - Henry. This name was a witness to the preaching and teaching of the church. Christ was the center of all. He was all and in all. Earnest Christianity has always been Christo-centric. All doctrines, all influences, all history even, circle around the cross of Christ, as astronomers used to say that all the stars and constellations are circling around the star Alcyone in the Pleiades.

IV. The Famine and the Relief Fund. the church was being founded in Antioch. God's message.

Vs. 27-30. 27. In these days. While Came prophets. Those speaking forth

28. Agabus. Nothing is known about him, beyond what is told here, and a symbolic prophecy some years later concerning Paul (Acts 21: 10). Great dearth (famine) throughout all the world. The term oikovμévηy refers to the inhabited world of the Roman Empire. - Knowling, Ramsay. "We have ample evidence as to a widespread dearth over various parts of the Roman Empire, to which Suetonius, Dion Cassius, Tacitus, and Eusebius all bear witness, in the reign of Claudius; and in no other reign do we find such varied allusions to periodical famines." Knowling. "Dr. Schürer seems to require a distinct statement that a famine took place in the same year all over Europe, Asia, and Africa. But that is too hard on Luke, for he merely says that famine occurred over the whole (civilized) world in the time of Claudius. The great famine in Palestine probably occurred in A. D. 46. In the days of Claudius, who reigned A. D. 41-54.

29. The disciples. determined to send relief. The prophecy of the famine was made in order to give the disciples time to collect money and food in advance of the need. They believed the prophet, and proceeded to prepare the relief. This would require some time, "for it would have shown criminal incapacity to send gold to a starving city," and they must purchase supplies. "The money was probably collected by weekly contributions, for the congregation was not rich, and coin was not plentiful in Syrian cities." Ramsay in St. Paul, pp. 48–50.

30. Which also they did, after the famine had begun, and after the persecution by Herod, and Herod's death in A. D. 44. Most of the early Christians at Jerusalem were probably poor; and the persecutions would be most likely to drive away those best able to support themselves. By the hands of Barnabas and Saul. This was Paul's second visit to Jerusalem. Professor Ramsay regards it as the same visit as that described in Gal. 2: I-IO. McGiffert regards this visit as the same one described in Acts 15 as well as in Gal. 2.

This distribution by the hands of the leaders in the Gentile church, of the bounty gathered in Antioch, would make a most favorable impression. It was an expression of gratitude for the spiritual favors received. It would bring the churches together in brotherly love. It would tend to dissipate any prejudices or fears the Jews may have entertained.

It would show that the gospel produced the same fruits among Gentile believers as it had produced in the Jerusalem disciples. It was a means of grace and spiritual growth to the church at Antioch.

Is thy cruse of comfort failing? Rise and share it with another,

And through all the years of famine it shall serve thee and thy brother.
Love divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy handful still renew;
Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast for two."

LESSON VI. - May 11.

PETER DELIVERed from PRISON.

Acts 12: I-9.

Study Verses 1-19.

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. - PSA. 34: 7.

I. The Martyrdom of James. - Vs. 1, 2. I. Now about that time. During the events occurring in Antioch. It was the spring of A. D. 44, on which date authorities

Herod.

agree. Herod the king. "There was no portion of time for thirty years before, or ever afterwards, in which there was a king at Jerusalem, a person exercising that authority in Judea, or to whom that title could be applied, except the last three years of Herod's life, within which period the transaction here recorded took place." - Paley.

It is well to keep in mind the four Herods most intimately connected with the gospel history:

1. Herod the Great, the founder of the family, was the murderer of the innocents at Bethlehem. He died the spring after the birth of Jesus, B. C. 4.

2. Herod Antipas, his son (B. C. 4-A. D. 39), was the Herod who murdered John the Baptist.

3. Herod Agrippa I., grandson of Herod the Great, was the king who murdered the Apostle James in the lesson for to-day (A. D. 37-44).

4. Herod Agrippa II., before whom Paul defended himself. (Acts 26: 28.) Dr. Leonard W. Bacon says, "I know a volume of sermons by a preacher of no small celebrity, in which the dying terrors of Herod (Agrippa I.) when eaten of worms' in the book of Acts are traced to his remorse of conscience for the murder of John the Baptist in the Gospels" (by Herod Antipas, his uncle).

The Circumstances.

66

The churches had enjoyed a period of rest from persecution by the Jews, because the Roman Emperor Caligula had given the Jews enough to keep them busy in defending themselves from his interference with their religion. Caligula died in 41, and Claudius began to reign. His mother wittily called him "the outline of a man which had not been filled up." He did not attempt to force the Jews to worship him, nor to set up his statue in the temple. Herod Agrippa, a Jew in part by descent, a scapegrace adventurer," " a fugitive bankrupt," had helped Claudius to be accepted as emperor, and saved him from a violent death. In return the new emperor showered favors upon Herod and made him king. He curried favor with the Jews in every way. He hung in the temple as a votive offering the gold chain the Emperor Caligula had given him. He lived in Jerusalem, and punctually observed the traditions of the fathers, and secured the fervent loyalty of the Pharisees. At the feast of tabernacles in 41 he took the readers' stand and read the whole book of Deuteronomy

2. And he killed James 'the brother of John with the sword.

I Matt. 4: 21.

aloud, "bursting into tears as if quite overcome when he reached the words, 'Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, who is not thy brother." " He feared that because he had Edomite blood in his veins he might incur the hatred his grandfather Herod the Great had borne, and took this way to gain the political favor of the Jews who cried out, "Don't weep, Agrippa, thou art our brother."

In pursuance of this policy he stretched forth his hands to vex, kakoa, to do evil (Kakós) or injury to, to oppress, to maltreat. Vex is used in the Old English sense of torment, oppress (not in the signification of petty annoyances which modern usage gives to the word). Certain of the church. Because the Jews were intensely opposed to them, all the more because of their rapid growth.

2. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. James was the son of Zebedee. He was one of the first disciples of Jesus, and with John Death and Peter was one of the most advanced and favored of his followers. of James. These three were admitted to the death chamber in Jairus' house, to the Mount of Transfiguration, and to the nearest place in the Garden of Gethsemane. He, with John, was ambitious to be nearest Jesus in his kingdom, and felt sure that he could drink of the same cup of suffering as his Master (Matt. 20: 20-24), and his death shows that he stood the test. He, with his brother John, was named by Jesus, "Boanerges," a son of thunder, probably on account of his fiery, impetuous disposition, and perhaps his burning eloquence. It was this prominence and activity in the cause that probably led Herod to select him for his first victim.

A touching tradition concerning his martyrdom is given in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History 2: 9: "The messenger who led him to the judgment seat, beholding his witness, was moved to confess himself a Christian. Both were therefore led away, says he, and on the road (to execution) he asked forgiveness from James. And he, having considered for a little, said, 'Peace be to thee,' and he kissed him tenderly. And thus both were beheaded together."

Within about a month after slaying James (March) Herod himself died a horrible death at Cesarea (April).

Sitting in Sackcloth.

Death of Herod.

He went to Cesarea to a magnificent festival given in honor of Claudius' safety, probably from his journey to Britain, "to signalize the pretended triumphs of the poor mock emperor there." "A vast multitude assembled to see the festival and games, and before these, the king, in all the pride of high state, appeared in robes inwrought with silver threads. The time chosen was daybreak, so that the kindling sun, shining on this grand mantle, lighted it into dazzling splendor. Presently, some of the flatterers, always at hand beside a king, raised the cry, echoing a reminiscence of the days of Caligula, Deign to be gracious to us, thou divine one! hitherto we have honored thee as a man; henceforth we own thee more than mortal! Instead of rebuking such lying servility, the worthless creature drank in this hollow

adulation with high pleasure. Next moment a great pain racked his bowels. Consciencestricken, as a Jew, at his blasphemous folly, the poor wretch felt that the wrath of God had struck him down, and the cry rose from him, in his agony, See, your god must now give up life, and hastens into the arms of corruption!' In the Acts we are told that he was eaten of worms.' Round his palace at Cesarea, where he lay five days in sore distress before he died, vast numbers of Jews in sackcloth and ashes lay prostrate, shrieking, and

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