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THE KING ' S BUSINESS
apostles" (lit. "face to face with"). Not simply did Barnabas do that but he "declared unto them how Saul had seen the Lord, and had preached boldly In the name of Jesus" (Acts 9 : 27). It was a bold and noble thing to do. It was he who appreciated Paul. It was to him that the church owes the most extraordinary of her founders. Among the causes of the faith of the world we must count the generous movement of Barnabas, stretching out his hand to the suspected and forsaken Paul; the profound Intuition which led him to discover the soul of an apostle under that humiliated air. Barnabas was the champion of the Greek Christians in Antioch. A Greek church had sprung up In Antioch, the third city of the Roman Empire. The situation was a delicate one and called for careful handling. Barnabas was chosen (Acts 11:22) a committee of one (Acts 8:14) to Investigate condi– tions In Antioch (Acts 11:21). Barna– bas fully justified their choice of him as the commissioner In this crisis. Bar– nabas at once saw that the work was due to the grace ot God and he was glad (11: 23). He was able to rise above his J ewish prejudices and to rec– ognize the change wrought In the lives of these Greeks. He saw that a new era had come and that God had broken down the middle wall of partition and had saved these Greeks without their becoming Jews. So "he exhorted them" (Acts 11 : 23). He required no vision on the housetop to see the new truth that God Is no respecter of persons (Acts 1O:34). As a Spirit-filled man he was able to try the spirits and to discern the true work of grace when he saw It. The work grew mightily (Acts 11: 25) . He needed help and he knew where to go. He knew Saul was a chosen vessel of God for this work among the Gentiles. He got Saul to Antioch so that the man and the hour could meet. The result Justified the wisdom of Barnabas. Here the disci– ples first won the name of Christians. In nothing Is Lhe greatness of Barnabas more manifest than In his recognition of the superiority of Paul and accept– ance of a secondary place for himself. When Paul and Barnabas returned from their conference In Jerusalem ( 15: 2) things did not go entirely well. A sensitive situation arose In Antioch. There was plenty of explosive material at hand.
Paul was anxious to smooth things over and to get back to normal relations with Barnabas. The old missionary hunger burned in Paul again and he proposed to Barnabas (15: 36-41) that they go back again and visit their old haunts. Barnabas readily agreed but made one suggestion, that they take along John Mark, who began the for– mer tour with them but left them. Paul took a position against that proposal. He could not bear the Idea of having along this man who had played the apostate at Perga. He did not stick to his work then and he might desert in a pinch again. The "son of consolation" shows ordinary temper like other men. Each was right and each was wrong as Is usually the case In a quarrel. Paul no doubt had the best of the argument so far as logic goes, but Barnabas would not turn Mark down, not even for Paul. So they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed away to Cyprus and drops out of Luke's nar– rative. This Is one ot the tragedies of the ministry, that great men cannot al– ways work together. But they can at least work separately. Often more work is thus accomplished. The world is wide and the work Is pressing. Time heals many things.-Dr. A. T. Robert– son in "Types of Preachers." Ji ii Barnabas and Paul Tell About Jesus. Acts 14:8-18. l\femory Verse. "We good tidings." Acts 13 :3 2. bring Approach.-We always love true stories, and I am going to tell you one about a girl I know, who did Just what our story tells us. This girl went away with her teacher BEGINNERS for three days to a AND PRIMARY big meeting, and llfabel L. Merrill w h I I e she was there, she let J esus come into her heart. When she re– turned home, the rest of the family saw a change in her life. You know when Jesus comes to live In our hearts it does change our lives, and makes them so much better. She had a mother; fa– ther and brother. First her mother took Jesus as her Saviour. This dear girl told the father and brother about Jesus, and very soon they too gave their
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