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Minor. Roads ran out from it in all directions. Thanks to the abundant fertility of its neighborhood, and its own location as a center of industry, travel and commerce, the city grew in size and importance. Under the Emperor Hadrian it was granted the right of independent civil jurisdiction. And for centuries it was one of the great Christian cities of the eastern half of the empire. But without the few weeks' visit of Paul and Barnabas, in the year 47 A. D., there might never have been a Christian church in this important, strategic center!

The apostles return to Syria. From Derbe it was a much shorter route home to follow the highway east to Tyana, go south through the Cilician Gates and revisit Tarsus, then follow the road around the Gulf of Issus and down to Antioch in Syria. Instead, Paul and Barnabas determined to retrace their steps, braving all the dangers such a plan involved, and visit once more the disciples whom they had made thus far. They refused to desert the new and scattered converts in the cities of Galatia. And so, as Luke says,

"They returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch (in Pisidia), confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and telling them that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

"And they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And 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 accomplished. And when they arrived, they gathered the church together and rehearsed all that

God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles. Then they tarried no little time with the disciples."-Acts 14: 21-28.

It was a year since they had set out for Cyprus. They had covered nearly fifteen hundred miles by ship or afoot, in all weathers, by day and night, in much hardship and tribulation. But "a door had been opened to the Gentiles"-a door of faith through which multitudes were to come into the kingdom of Christ and find life in his name. There is no false note in the words of our hymn:

"The Son of God goes forth to war.

Who follows in his train?"

From the very beginning it has been true of his followers that

"They climbed the steep ascent of heaven
Through peril, toil, and pain."

We wonder, sometimes, if we ourselves are worthy to bear the name of Christian, for which these heroic pioneers "suffered the loss of all things, if only they might gain Christ!"

STUDY TOPICS

1. Sketch a map of Asia Minor and Syria, and show its political divisions about the time of Paul. Locate the chief cities and show the route followed by Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

2. What grounds can you imagine for the bitter opposition of the "unbelieving" Jews to the preaching of the gospel?

3. What significance did the healing of the lame man at Lystra have for the people? Explain this, and compare it with the effect of our Lord's miracles upon

the people of Galilee.

Do you remember what Jesus said about the significance of his own miracles of healing? See Matthew 11: 2-6; 12: 28.

4. Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-33. Do you know the lives of any other missionaries (for example, Paton or Livingstone) to compare with this? Are there any experiences described which remind you of the opposition to Jesus in his ministry?

5. Try to imagine the scene as the apostles returned to Antioch and reported to the church what had happened on their journey. Tradition says that Luke's home was at Antioch. Perhaps he now heard from Paul's own lips the account which he gives in Acts 13-14. Give in your own words a brief résumé of the first missionary journey.

6. We honor the patriots who lay down their lives to set their country free, or to liberate the oppressed. How ought we to feel toward those who, at fearful cost to themselves, have planted Christianity among the nations of the world?

7. Are we worthy of the sacrifices made to give us the true religion if we sit idly by and take no share in its further extension to all mankind? How may we share in this task to-day?

8. Would you be willing to endure what Saint Paul endured in order to spread the gospel? What were the motives which explain his courage and perseverance?

CHAPTER XIV

FOES WITHIN THE FOLD

Not everyone in the church rejoiced at the "open door of faith" proclaimed to the Gentiles by Paul and Barnabas. There were some, like those who protested when Peter accepted the hospitality of the centurion Cornelius, who felt that there was a grave danger in this open welcoming of Gentiles into the church. They thought that heathen should become Jews first, and then advance to the perfect form of Judaism taught in the gospel.

THE "JUDAIZERS"

It is hard for us to understand such narrowness and bigotry, as it seems to us. But we must remember that for hundreds of years the preservation of the Jewish faith required the most strict exclusion of foreigners with their idolatry and heathen customs, often grossly immoral. Moreover, for twenty generations the Jews had been persecuted by foreign nations, either on account of their religion (as in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes), or on account of their wealth and the strategic importance of Palestine as a frontier state.

Jews and Gentiles. In the first century of our era, there were great numbers of Jews who bitterly resented the Roman control of Palestine, and hated every mark of the "bondage" which it was felt their nation suffered. Although the Romans gave Palestine as good a government as any in the world at that time, and made an honest effort (at least under the early procurators) to deal justly with their subjects; although Jewish life and

property were never more secure, this antagonism on the part of vast masses of the Jews only deepened from year to year. At last war broke out, and the Jewish nation endeavored to regain its freedom. After four years of unsuccessful revolution, 66-70 A. D., ending in a terrible siege of the capital city, Jerusalem was taken, the Temple destroyed, and its rebuilding forever forbidden.

Christianity versus Judaism.-Throughout his public ministry, Jesus set himself firmly against this tendency to exclusiveness and bigotry. "Many shall come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." The Temple was a "house of prayer for all peoples.” The gospel was to be preached "to all the nations." Nevertheless, it took his followers a long time to understand the plain meaning of his message, and to realize that although it was addressed first of all to the Jews it was also meant for the Gentiles-was intended, in fact, for all mankind. So there were some, even within the Christian Church, who thought that in order to become Christians, Gentiles must first become Jews in religion; that is, they must become "members of the Covenant,' accept its rites and observe the ceremonies prescribed by the Law, including the offering of sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem, the ceremonial washings of hands and household utensils, the observance of fasts and feasts, new moons and Sabbaths, and all the other requirements of the ancient code.

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These men were no doubt sincerely alarmed over the admission of Gentiles into the church without the fulfilling of the sacred requirements. They were sure a curse would fall upon everyone who broke the Law, and therefore upon all who, while supposed-as members of

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