CHAPTER XIII.

PROPHETS AT ANTIOCH-LAYING ON OF HANDS-PAUL AND BARNABAS SENT FORTH-BAR-JESUS THE JEW-ELYMAS THE SORCERER STRUCK BLIND GOSPEL ALWAYS OFFERED FIRST TO THE JEW - PAUL'S ADDRESS IN THE SYNAGOGUE-GOD'S DECREE AND MAN'S GUILTENMITY OF JEWS-ENERGY OF PAUL AND BARNABAS-GUILT OF REJECTING THE GOSPEL-OFFER TO GENTILES-BELIEVERS.

THE very first incident recorded in this chapter is, that in the church or congregation that was gathered together at Antioch, there were certain prophets and preachers, whose names are here given : Barnabas, “the son of consolation;" Simeon, probably an African, being called Niger, or black; and Lucius of Cyrene; and Manaen, who was a servant in the house of Herod, and whom he consulted about his prosperity, and continuance on his throne,-" brought up with Herod the tetrarch ;" and Saul. Now, "while these ministered to the Lord," literally, served the Lord, or worshipped the Lord, "the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." Paul and Barnabas already were preachers of the Gospel; but it seems to have been the law or usage of the ancient and primitive Church to lay their hands upon every one they sent to a special missionary station, and to implore on those they thus sent the consecrating influence and blessing of the Holy Ghost.

Paul, an apostle, and Barnabas, a preacher, were sent by the teachers and prophets of the Church of Antioch to preach the glad tidings in that country in which henceforth they were to labour. These two, full of the Holy Ghost, anointed richly for their mission, endued with a special sanctifying and enlightening power, departed, and came to Cyprus; "and when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had also John to their minister." They had no time to study its remains, its ruins, its temples, its magnificent architecture,—and such there were at many of the places they visited,— but full of their commission, men of one thing, and with one object and design, absorbing and consuming every thought, they felt it their only duty and their privilege to preach the blessed Gospel everywhere. The synagogue of the Jew, the temple of the Gentile, were equally consecrated for their work, and for the fulfilment of their mission.

"And when they had gone through all the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew." It is notorious that in ancient days the Jews were scattered throughout most regions of the Gentiles, and generally, deeply to their disgrace, exercising the office of pretended prophets, and sorcerers, and soothsayers, and fortune-tellers, and indicating a character in that day anything but creditable to their race; not the pious Jews, but the Jew by birth; not the Jew by circumcision of the heart and of the spirit, which is of God. This Jew, this profligate Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, was found with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, "a prudent man," a man discerning the time, a thinking and reflecting man; who, having heard that

Barnabas and Saul had been preaching the Gospel to others, and anxious to know what was the nature of their message, and the grounds on which they made it, sent for them, and desired to hear the word of God. Elymas the sorcerer-so was his name by interpretation -withstood them, because his craft was in danger: if the Gospel was preached to Sergius Paulus, and his heart was turned away from vain and idle curiosity to serve the living God, then this miserable impostor was sure to be dismissed. And with all the tenacity of avarice, he resolved at all hazards to resist the intrusion of Saul and Barnabas into the good graces, by enlightening the mind and convincing the heart, of his master, Sergius Paulus. His name here is called

Elymas, which is translated "a sorcerer." It is derived from a Hebrew word, which means a "wise man." You have all read in recent letters from the East, of those called in Constantinople the Ulemas. The Sultan never ventures to go to battle, or to engage in anything connected with his country, without calling together these sacerdotal or ecclesiastical heads of the nation, known by the name of Ulemas. Well, the name Ulema, a chief priest, or ruler among the Turks, is the same as the word Elymas, being derived from the same Hebrew word, and they might, with no great strain upon the word, be interpreted "Turkish sorcerers;" as his name is here a sorcerer by interpretation. Now, this Elymas, we are told, withstood them. And Saul, who saw through him, not pronouncing a judgment as an individual ignorant of the state of this sorcerer's heart, but gifted as the apostles were with the Holy Spirit, and with a penetration which even the most vaunting of their alleged successors has not assumed, said to Elymas, ૨

VOL. V.

."O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil"—as he was-" thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" And immediately the judgment of God fell upon Elymas, and he was justly punished for his sins by blindness coming on him; not for life, but for a season; the blindness a penalty to him, a proof to Sergius Paulus, and all that beheld it, that the arm of Omnipotence sustained the utterance of Gospel truth; the miracle indicating God's power, attesting that the message was the wisdom, the inspiration, and the revelation of God also. This explains why "the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed.” He said, "These men have the credentials of a mission from heaven; their deeds are the seals of their embassy. God would not put forth his omnipotent power to attest a perfect lie. Because God's power attests these men's message, therefore we believe that the facts they narrate, the doctrines they preach, are true." And Sergius Paulus, with far less evidence than we have, and far fewer means of reaching that evidence, believed, and became a Christian.

After this we read, "they departed from Perga, and came to Antioch in Pisidia;" and the first place they visited was the synagogue of the Jews. You will see, from the beginning of the Acts onward to this chapter, how the apostles offered the Gospel to the Jews first, and also to the Gentiles. They preferred the synagogue to preach in to the heathen temple, and the reason was abundantly obvious. The Jew admitted the Old Testament; and on his own principles, and from his own premises, the apostles were enabled to prove, consistently and logically, that he must admit the Gospel also; and

the Jew becoming a Christian, would be a standing and striking proof to the Gentiles that the Gospel was what it professed to be-the wisdom of God, and the power of God. Well, now, "After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying," with great liberality, and with great candour, "Men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." The chapter supposed to have been read in the synagogue on this occasion, or, as we should call it, the lesson for the day, is understood to have been the 1st chapter of Isaiah, and also the 1st chapter of Deuteronomy; and there is throughout this address of St. Paul a continual allusive reference to some of the statements in this remarkable chapter. Well, Paul was too glad of an opportunity of speaking. He was not afraid, as some are sometimes, to proclaim and advocate that cause which he knew to be true, because he was in the company of them who had reasons that needed to be convinced, and reasons that required strong arguments to convince them. stood up at once, beckoned with his hand, gladly accepted the opening, and said, "Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience." Now, why should it not be so still? The minister of the Gospel should preach everywhere. He should not say, "I will only preach in my own place," he ought to go to the platform, and afford those who are opposed to him an opportunity of saying what they have got to say. I am sure I should rejoice if I were admitted by Dr. Wiseman into his pulpit, and allowed to address his congregation; and if he had the liberality that was displayed in these ancient times, he would do so. And we may be sure of this, they that do not do so are conscious that they have a cause that

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