of Christ.
Antioch had both a large Jewish and Gentile population; it was a great
resort for lovers of ease and pleasure, because of the healthfulness of its
situation, its beautiful scenery, and the wealth, culture, and refinement
that centered there. Its extensive commerce made it a place of great
importance, where people of all nationalities were found. It was therefore
a city of luxury and vice. The retribution of God finally came upon
Antioch, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
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It was here that the disciples were first called Christians. This
name was given them because Christ was the main theme of their
preaching, teaching, and conversation. They were continually recounting
the incidents of His life during the time in which His disciples were
blessed with His personal company. They dwelt untiringly upon His
teachings, His miracles of healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising
the dead to life. With quivering lips and tearful eyes they spoke of His
agony in the garden, His betrayal, trial, and execution, the forbearance
and humility with which He endured the contumely and torture imposed
upon Him by His enemies, and the Godlike pity with which He prayed for
those who persecuted Him. His resurrection and ascension and his work
in heaven as a Mediator for fallen man were joyful topics with them. The
heathen might well call them Christians, since they preached of Christ and
addressed their prayers to God through Him.
Paul found, in the populous city of Antioch, an excellent field of labor,
where his great learning, wisdom, and zeal, combined, wielded a powerful
influence over the inhabitants and frequenters of that city of culture.
Meanwhile the work of the apostles was centered at Jerusalem, where
Jews of all tongues and countries came to worship at the temple during
the stated festivals. At such times the apostles preached Christ with
unflinching courage, though they knew that in so doing their lives were
in constant jeopardy. Many converts to the faith were made, and these,
scattering to their homes in different parts of the country, dispersed the
seeds of truth throughout all nations and among all classes of society.
Peter, James, and John felt confident that God
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had appointed them to preach Christ among their own countrymen at
home. But Paul had received his commission from God, while praying
in the temple, and his broad missionary field had been presented before
him with remarkable distinctness. To prepare him for his extensive and
important work, God had brought him into close connection with Himself,
and had opened before his enraptured vision a glimpse of the beauty and
glory of heaven.
Ordination of Paul and Barnabas
God communicated with the devout prophets and teachers in the
church at Antioch. “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.” Acts 13:2. These apostles were therefore dedicated to God
in a most solemn manner by fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands;
and they were sent forth to their field of labor among the Gentiles.
Both Paul and Barnabas had been laboring as ministers of Christ,
and God had abundantly blessed their efforts, but neither of them had
previously been formally ordained to the gospel ministry by prayer and
the laying on of hands. They were now authorized by the church not
only to teach the truth but to baptize and to organize churches, being
invested with full ecclesiastical authority. This was an important era for
the church. Though the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile
had been broken down by the death of Christ, letting the Gentiles into the
full privileges of the gospel, the veil had not yet been torn away from the
eyes of many of the believing Jews, and they could not clearly discern to
the end of that which was abolished by the Son of God. The work was
now to be prosecuted with vigor among the Gentiles,
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and was to result in strengthening the church by a great ingathering of
souls.
The apostles, in this, their special work, were to be exposed to
suspicion, prejudice, and jealousy. As a natural consequence of their
departure from the exclusiveness of the Jews, their doctrine and views
would be subject to the charge of heresy; and their credentials as ministers
of the gospel would be questioned by many zealous, believing Jews. God
foresaw all these difficulties which His servants would undergo, and, in
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His wise providence, caused them to be invested with unquestionable
authority from the established church of God, that their work should be
above challenge.
The ordination by the laying on of hands was, at a later date, greatly
abused; unwarrantable importance was attached to the act, as though a
power came at once upon those who received such ordination, which
immediately qualified them for any and all ministerial work, as though
virtue lay in the act of laying on of hands. We have, in the history of
these two apostles, only a simple record of the laying on of hands, and its
bearing upon their work. Both Paul and