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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 13:14

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But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

14. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia ] Better, “But they having passed through from Perga, came,” &c. Pisidia lay inland to the N. of Pamphylia, and Antioch was in its extreme northern part, so that the verb “passed through” is very correct, for they crossed the whole district. Dean Howson ( Life and Epistles of St Paul, i. 175) suggests that it was perhaps in this journey that St Paul and his companion were exposed to those “perils of robbers” of which he speaks 2Co 11:26. Pisidia was a mountainous district rising gradually towards the north, and the quotations given by Dr Howson from Xenophon and Strabo shew that there was a great deal of brigand-like life there even in these times, from which Paul and his company may have been in danger.

and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down ] Though he is the Apostle of the Gentiles it is ever to the synagogue that St Paul first finds his way. For the law of Moses ought to be a better schoolmaster to bring men to Christ than the law of nature.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

They came to Antioch in Pisidia – Pisidia was a province of Asia Minor, and was situated north of Pamphylia. Antioch was not in Pisidia, but within the limits of Phrygia; but it belonged to Pisadia, and was called Antioch of Pisidia to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria – Pliny, Nat. Hist., 5, 27; Strabo, 12, p. 577 (Kuinoel; Robinsons Calmet). The city was built by Seleucus, the founder of the Antioch in Syria, and was called after the name of his father, Antiochus. He is said to have built 16 cities of that name (Life and Epistles of Paul, vol. 1, p. 122).

Went into the synagogue – Though Paul and Barnabas were on a special mission to the Gentiles, yet they availed themselves of every opportunity to offer the gospel to the Jews first.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 14. They came to Antioch in Pisidia] This place is mentioned thus to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria, with which it had nothing in common but the name. There were several cities and towns in various districts of these countries called Antioch: some have reckoned up not less than twelve. Pisidia, in which this was situated, was a province of Asia Minor, near to Pamphylia, having Phrygia on the north, and Pamphylia on the south. The position of all these places may be seen on the map.

Into the synagogue on the Sabbath day] Though Paul was now on a special mission to the Gentiles, yet he availed himself of every opportunity, in every place, of making the first offer of salvation to the Jews.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Antioch in Pisidia; so called to distinguish it from the other Antioch, mentioned in Act 13:1, which was a city in Syria, as this in Pisidia, next to, or part of, Pamphylia.

Went into the synagogue on the sabbath day; either to join with the Jews in their worship, which was not then unlawful; or to get an opportunity more publicly to preach the gospel unto them: they were no sooner come thither, but they mind that great business they went about.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

14. departed from Pergaapparentlywithout making any stay or doing any work: compare the differentlanguage of Ac 14:25, and seeimmediately below.

came to Antioch inPisidiausually so called, to distinguish it from Antioch inSyria, from which they had started, though it actually lies inPhrygia, and almost due north from Perga. It was a long journey, andas it lay almost entirely through rugged mountain passes, while”rivers burst out at the base of huge cliffs, or dash downwildly through narrow ravines,” it must have been a perilousone. The whole region was, and to this day is, infested by robbers,as ancient history and modern travels abundantly attest; and therecan be but little doubt that to this very journey Paul many yearsafter alludes, when he speaks amidst his “journeyings often,”of his “perils of rivers” (as the word is), and his”perils of robbers” (2Co11:26). If this journey were taken in Mayand earlier than thatthe passes would have been blocked up with snowit would accountfor their not staying at Perga, whose hot streets are then deserted;”men, women, and children, flocks, herds, camels, and asses, allascending at the beginning of the hot season from the plains to thecool basin-like hollows on the mountains, moving in the samedirection with our missionaries” [HOWSON].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

But when they departed from Perga,…. Where they seemed not to make any long stay; nor is there any account of what they did there; though it is certain here was a church of Christ in after times, and very likely planted by the apostles; for after this Paul and Barnabas preached the word in this place, Ac 14:25 and no doubt with success. In the third century there were martyrs of this church at Perga, which suffered under the Emperor Decius; and in the, fourth century, we read of a famous church in this place, over which Jovinian was bishop or pastor; and in the “fifth” century there was a church here, whose bishop is mentioned in the catalogue of bishops who assisted in the first council at Ephesus; and, in the same century, the church of this place was the metropolitan church of Pamphilia; and, in the “sixth” century, one Epiphanius was bishop of Perga; and, in the “seventh” century, it is spoken of as the metropolitan of Pamphilia; and, in the “eighth” century, we read of Sisinnius as bishop of it i; so far down can we trace Christianity in this city.

They came to Antioch in Pisidia; so called to distinguish it from Antioch of Syria, from whence they were sent, Ac 13:1 and so this place is called Antioch of Pisidia by Ptolomy k; and also from another Antioch in Mygdania, before called Nisibis, as Pliny l observes, and which is the Antioch in the Apocrypha:

“Afterward departed he in all haste, and returned unto Antiochia, where he found Philip to be master of the city: so he fought against him, and took the city by force.” (1 Maccabees 6:63)

“Heard that Philip, who was left over the affairs in Antioch, was desperately bent, confounded, intreated the Jews, submitted himself, and sware to all equal conditions, agreed with them, and offered sacrifice, honoured the temple, and dealt kindly with the place,” (2 Maccabees 13:23)

concerning which Josephus m has these words; Nisibis is the name of the country, and in it formerly the Macedonians built Antioch, which they called Mygdonia. Pisidia was a province of Asia; it had Pamphilia on the north, Lycaonia on the east, and Phrygia Pacatiana on the west; and it is mentioned together with Phrygia, Lycaonia, and Pamphilia by Pliny n: and this Antioch in it, is, by the same writer, called Caesarea o: his words are, the Pisidians have their seat upon the top (of the valley) formerly called Solymi, whose colony is Caesarea, the same with Antioch. This is the Antioch to which Paul and Barnabas came, when they went from Perga, where were many Jews, and who had a synagogue in it: we read before, in Ac 2:9 of devout Jews that came to Jerusalem, whose native places were Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphilia, to which Pisidia was near: wherefore it follows, and

went into the synagogue on the sabbath day; for though the ceremonial law was abrogated by the death of Christ, it still was observed by the Jews, who had their synagogues open on that day for religious service; wherefore Paul and Barnabas took the opportunity of going in when they were assembled together, in order to preach Christ to them, not having a convenient time on other days:

and sat down: on one of the seats in the synagogue; either as hearers of the law and prophets, which were read every sabbath day in the synagogues; or else to teach the word, expound the Scriptures, and preach the Gospel of Christ, it being usual to sit when this was done; [See comments on Mt 5:1] and both were true, for they heard a part of the law and prophets read, according to the custom of the Jews; see the following verse, and Ac 15:21 and they also gave a word of exhortation to the people.

i Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 3. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 3, 418. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 7. p. 3, 112, cent. 8. c. 2. p. 4. k L. 5. c. 4. l Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 13. m Antiqu. l. 20. c. 3. sect. 3. n Antiqu. l. 5. c. 32. & l. 6. c. 34. & Solin Polyhistor. c. 53. & 57. o Plin. ib. l. 5. c. 27.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Paul at Antioch in Pisidia.

14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

Perga in Pamphylia was a noted place, especially for a temple there erected to the goddess Diana, yet nothing at all is related of what Paul and Barnabas did there, only that thither they came (v. 13), and thence they departed, v. 14. But the history of the apostles’ travels, as that of Christ’s, passes by many things worthy to have been recorded, because, if all had been written, the world could not have contained the books. But the next place we find them in is another Antioch, said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the metropolis of it. Abundance of Jews lived there, and to them the gospel was to be first preached; and Paul’s sermon to them is what we have in these verses, which, it is likely, is the substance of what was preached by the apostles generally to the Jews in all places; for in dealing with them the proper way was to show them how the New Testament, which they would have them to receive, exactly agreed with the Old Testament, which they not only received, but were zealous for. We have here,

I. The appearance which Paul and Barnabas made in a religious assembly of the Jews at Antioch, v. 14. Though they had lately had such good success with a Roman deputy, yet, when they came to Antioch, they did not enquire for the chief magistrate, nor make their court to him, but they applied to the Jews, which is a further proof of their good affection to them and their desire of their welfare. 1. They observed their time of worship, on the sabbath day, the Jewish sabbath. The first day of the week they observed among themselves as a Christian sabbath; but, if they will meet the Jews, it must be on the seventh-day sabbath, which therefore, upon such occasions, they did as yet sometimes observe. For, though it was by the death of Christ that the ceremonial law died, yet it was in the ruins of Jerusalem that it was to be buried; and therefore, though the morality of the fourth commandment was entirely transferred to the Christian sabbath, yet it was not incongruous to join with the Jews in their sabbath sanctification. 2. They met them in their place of worship, in the synagogue. Note, Sabbath days should be kept holy in solemn assemblies; they are instituted chiefly for public worship. The sabbath day is a holy convocation, and for that reason no servile work must be done therein. Paul and Barnabas were strangers; but, wherever we come, we must enquire out God’s faithful worshippers, and join with them (as these apostles here did), as those that desire to keep up a communion with all saints; though they were strangers, yet they were admitted into the synagogue, and to sit down there. Care should be taken in places of public worship that strangers be accommodated, even the poorest; for, of those of whom we know nothing else, we know this, that they have precious souls, for which our charity binds us to be concerned.

II. The invitation given them to preach. 1. The usual service of the synagogue was performed (v. 15): The law and the prophets were read, a portion of each, the lessons for the day. Note, When we come together to worship God, we must do it not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God; hereby we give him the glory due to his name, as our Lord and Lawgiver. 2. When that was done, they were asked by the rulers of the synagogue to give them a sermon (v. 15): They sent a messenger to them with the respectful message, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. It is probable that the rulers of the synagogue had met with them, and been in private conversation with them before; and, if they had not an affection to the gospel, yet they had at least the curiosity to hear Paul preach; and therefore not only gave him permission, but begged the favour of him that he would speak a word of exhortation to the people. Note, (1.) The bare reading of the scriptures in the public assemblies is not sufficient, but they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is spreading the net, and assisting people in doing that which is necessary to the making of the word profitable to them–that is, the applying of it to themselves. (2.) Those that preside, and have power, in public assemblies, should provide for a word of exhortation to the people, whenever they come together. (3.) Sometimes a word of exhortation from a strange minister may be of great use to the people, provided he be well approved. It is likely Paul did often preach in the synagogue, when he was not thus invited to it by the rulers of the synagogues; for he often preached with much contention, 1 Thess. ii. 2. But these were more noble, more generous, than the rulers of the synagogues generally were.

III. The sermon Paul preached in the synagogue of the Jews, at the invitation of the rulers of the synagogue. He gladly embraced the opportunity given him to preach Christ to his countrymen the Jews. He did not object to them that he was a stranger, and that it was none of his business; nor object to himself, that he might get ill-will by preaching Christ among the Jews; but stood up, as one prepared and determined to speak, and beckoned with his hand, to excite and prepare them to hear. He waved his hand as an orator, not only desiring silence and attention, but endeavouring to move affection, and to show himself in earnest. Perhaps, upon the moving of them to give an exhortation to the people, there were those in the synagogue that were ready to mutiny against the rulers, and opposed the toleration of Paul’s preaching, and that occasioned some tumult and commotion, which Paul endeavoured to quiet by that decent motion of his hand; as also by his modest desire of a patient impartial hearing: “Men of Israel, that are Jews by birth, and you that fear God, that are proselyted to the Jewish religion, give audience; let me beg your attention a little, for I have something to say to you which concerns your everlasting peace, and would not say it in vain.” Now this excellent sermon is recorded, to show that those who preached the gospel to the Gentiles did it not till they had first used their utmost endeavours with the Jews, to persuade them to come in and take the benefit of it; and that they had no prejudice at all against the Jewish nation, nor any desire that they should perish, but rather that they should turn and live. Every thing is touched in this sermon that might be proper either to convince the judgment or insinuate into the affections of the Jews, to prevail with them to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah.

1. He owns them to be God’s favourite people, whom he had taken into special relation to himself, and for whom he had done great things. Probably the Jews of the dispersion, that lived in other countries, being more in danger of mingling with the nations, were more jealous of their peculiarity than those that lived in their own land were; and therefore Paul is here very careful to take notice of it, to their honour.

(1.) That the God of the whole earth was, in a particular manner, the God of this people Israel, a God in covenant with them, and that he had given them a revelation of his mind and will, such as he had not given to any other nation or people; so that hereby they were distinguished from, and dignified above, all their neighbours, having peculiar precepts to be governed by, and peculiar promises to depend upon.

(2.) That he had chosen their fathers to be his friends: Abraham was called the friend of God; to be his prophets, by whom he would reveal his mind to his church, and to be the trustees of his covenant with the church. He puts them in mind of this, to let them know that the reason why God favoured them, though undeserving, and ill deserving, was because he would adhere to the choice he had made of their fathers,Deu 7:7; Deu 7:8. They were beloved purely for the fathers’ sakes, Rom. xi. 28.

(3.) That he had exalted that people, and put a great deal of honour upon them, had advanced them into a people, and raised them from nothing, when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and had nothing in them to recommend them to the divine favour. They ought to remember this, and to infer hence that God was no debtor to them; for it was ex mero motu–out of his mere good pleasure, and not upon a valuable consideration, that they had the grant of the divine favour; and therefore it was revocable at pleasure; and God did them no wrong if he at length plucked up the hedge of their peculiarity. But they were debtors to him, and obliged to receive such further discoveries as he should make to his church.

(4.) That he had with a high hand brought them out of Egypt, where they were not only strangers, but captives, had delivered them at the expense of a great many miracles, both of mercy to them and judgment on their oppressors (signs and wonders, Deut. iv. 34), and at the expense of a great many lives, all the first-born of Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his host, in the Red Sea; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, gave men for thee.Isa 43:3; Isa 43:4.

(5.) That he had suffered their manners forty years in the wilderness, v. 18, Etropophoresen. Some think it should be read, etrophophoresen—he educated them, because this is the word the Septuagint use concerning the fatherly care God took of that people, Deut. i. 31. Both may be included; for, [1.] God made a great deal of provision for them for forty years in the wilderness: miracles were their daily bread, and kept them from starving: They lacked not any thing. [2.] He exercised a great deal of patience with them. They were a provoking, murmuring, unbelieving people; and yet he bore with them, did not deal with them as they deserved, but suffered his anger many a time to be turned away by the prayer and intercession of Moses. So many years as we have each of us lived in this world, we must own that God has thus been as a tender father to us, has supplied our wants, has fed us all our life long unto this day, has been indulgent to us, a God of pardons (as he was to Israel, Neh. ix. 17), and not extreme to mark what we have done amiss; we have tried his patience, and yet not tired it. Let not the Jews insist too much upon the privileges of their peculiarity, for they have forfeited them a thousand times.

(6.) That he had put them in possession of the land of Canaan (v. 19): When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, that were doomed to be rooted out to make room for them, he divided their land to them by lot, and put them in possession of it. This was a signal favour of God to them, and he owns that hereby a great honour was put upon them, from which he would not in the least derogate.

(7.) That he had raised up men, inspirited from heaven, to deliver them out of the hands of those that invaded their rights, and oppressed them after their settlement in Canaan, Act 13:20; Act 13:21. [1.] He gave them judges, men qualified for public service, and, by an immediate impulse upon their spirits, called to it, pro re nata–as the occasion required. Though they were a provoking people, and were never in servitude but their sin brought them to it, yet upon their petition a deliverer was raised up. The critics find some difficulty in computing these four hundred and fifty years. From the deliverance out of Egypt to David’s expulsion of the Jebusites from the stronghold of Zion, which completed the casting out of the heathen nations, was four hundred and fifty years; and most of that time they were under judges. Others thus: The government of the judges, from the death of Joshua to the death of Eli, was just three hundred and thirty-nine years, but it is said to be [os] as it were four hundred and fifty years, because the years of their servitude to the several nations that oppressed them, though really they were included in the years of the judges, are yet mentioned in the history as if they had been distinct from them. Now these, all put together, make one hundred and eleven years, which added to the three hundred and thirty nine, make them four hundred and fifty; as so many, though not really so many. [2.] He governed them by a prophet, Samuel, a man divinely inspired to preside in their affairs. [3.] He afterwards at their request set a king over them (v. 21), Saul, the son of Cis. Samuel’s government and his lasted forty years, which was a kind of transition from the theocracy to the kingly government. [4.] At last, he made David their king, v. 22. When God had removed Saul, for his mal-administration, he raised up unto them David to be their king, and made a covenant of royalty with him, and with his seed. When he had removed one king, he did not leave them as sheep without a shepherd, but soon raised up another, raised him up from a mean and low estate, raised him up on high, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. He quotes the testimony God gave concerning him, First, That his choice was divine: I have found David, Ps. lxxxix. 20. God himself pitched upon him. Finding implies seeking; as if God had ransacked all the families of Israel to find a man fit for his purpose, and this was he. Secondly, That his character was divine: A man after my own heart, such a one as I would have, one on whom the image of God is stamped, and therefore one in whom God is well pleased and whom he approves. This character was given of him before he was first anointed, 1 Sam. xiii. 14. The Lord hath sought out a man after his own heart, such a one as he would have. Thirdly, That his conduct was divine, and under divine direction: He shall fulfil all my will. He shall desire and endeavour to do the will of God, and shall be enabled to do it, and employed in the doing of it, and go through with it. Now all this seems to show not only the special favour of God to the people of Israel (with the acknowledgment of which the apostle is very willing to oblige them) but the further favours of another nature which he designed them, and which were now, by the preaching of the gospel, offered to them. Their deliverance out of Egypt, and settlement in Canaan, were types and figures of good things to come. The changes of their government showed that it made nothing perfect, and therefore must give way to the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah, which was now in the setting up, and which, if they would admit it and submit to it, would be the glory of their people Israel; and therefore they needed not conceive any jealousy at all of the preaching of the gospel, as if it tended in the least to damage the true excellences of the Jewish church.

2. He gives them a full account of our Lord Jesus, passing from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed (v. 23): Of this man’s seed, from that root of Jesse, from that man after God’s own heart, hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour–Jesus, who carries salvation in his name.

(1.) How welcome should the preaching of the gospel of Christ be to the Jews, and how should they embrace it, as well worthy of all acceptation, when it brought them the tidings, [1.] Of a Saviour, to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, as the judges of old, who were therefore called saviours; but this a Saviour to do that for them which, it appears by the history, those could not do–to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. [2.] A Saviour of God’s raising up, that has his commission from heaven. [3.] Raised up to be a Saviour unto Israel, to them in the first place: He was sent to bless them; so far was the gospel from designing the gathering of them. [4.] Raised up of the seed of David, that ancient royal family, which the people of Israel gloried so much in, and which at this time, to the great disgrace of the whole nation, was buried in obscurity. It ought to be a great satisfaction to them that God had raised up this horn of salvation for them in the house of his servant David, Luke i. 69. [5.] Raised up according to his promise, the promise to David (Ps. cxxxii. 11), the promise to the Old-Testament church in the latter times of it: I will raise unto David a righteous branch, Jer. xxiii. 5. This promise was it to which the twelve tribes hoped to come (ch. xxvi. 7); why then should they entertain it so coldly, now that it was brought to them? Now,

(2.) Concerning this Jesus, he tells them,

[1.] That John the Baptist was his harbinger and forerunner, that great man whom all acknowledged to be a prophet. Let them not say that the Messiah’s coming was a surprise upon them, and that this might excuse them if they took time to consider whether they should entertain him or no; for they had sufficient warning by John, who preached before his coming, v. 24. Two things he did–First, He made way for his entrance, by preaching the baptism of repentance, not to a few select disciples, but to all the people of Israel. He showed them their sins, warned them of the wrath to come, called them to repentance, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, and bound those to this who were willing to be bound by the solemn rite or sign of baptism; and by this he made ready a people prepared for the Lord Jesus, to whom his grace would be acceptable when they were thus brought to know themselves. Secondly, He gave notice of his approach (v. 25): As he fulfilled his course, when he was going on vigorously in his work, and had had wonderful success in it, and an established interest: “Now,” saith he to those that attended his ministry, “Whom think you that I am? What notions have you of me, what expectations from me? You may be thinking that I am the Messiah, whom you expect; but you are mistaken, I am not he (see John i. 20), but he is at the door; behold, there cometh one immediately after me, who will so far exceed me upon all accounts, that I am not worthy to be employed in the meanest office about him, no, not to help him on and off with his shoes–whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose, and you may guess who that must be.”

[2.] That the rulers and people of the Jews, who should have welcomed him, and been his willing, forward, faithful subjects, were his persecutors and murderers. When the apostles preach Christ as the Saviour, they are so far from concealing his ignominious death, and drawing a veil over it, that they always preach Christ crucified, yea, and (though this added much to the reproach of his sufferings) crucified by his own people, by those that dwelt in Jerusalem, the holy city–the royal city, and their rulers, v. 27. First, Their sin was that though they found no cause of death in him, could not prove him, no, nor had any colour to suspect him, guilty of any crime (the judge himself that tried him, when he had heard all they could say against him, declared he found no fault with him), yet they desired Pilate that he might be slain (v. 28), and presented their address against Christ with such fury and outrage that they compelled Pilate to crucify him, not only contrary to his inclination, but contrary to his conscience; they condemned him to so great a death, though they could not convict him of the least sin. Paul cannot charge this upon his hearers, as Peter did (ch. ii. 23): You have with wicked hands crucified and slain him; for these, though Jews, were far enough off; but he charges it upon the Jews at Jerusalem and the rulers, to show what little reason those Jews of the dispersion had to be so jealous for the honour of their nation as they were, when it had brought upon itself such a load and stain of guilt as this, and how justly they might have been cut off from all benefit by the Messiah, who had thus abused him, and yet they were not; but, notwithstanding all this, the preaching of this gospel shall begin at Jerusalem. Secondly, The reason of this was because they knew him not, v. 27. They knew not who he was, nor what errand he came into the world upon; for, if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Christ owned this in extenuation of their crime: They know not what they do; and so did Peter: I wot that through ignorance you did this, ch. iii. 17. It was also because they knew not the voice of the prophets though they heard them read every sabbath day. They did not understand nor consider that it was foretold that the Messiah should suffer, or else they would never have been the instruments of his suffering. Note, Many that read the prophets do not know the voice of the prophets, do not understand the meaning of the scriptures; they have the sound of the gospel in their ears, but not the sense of it in their heads, nor the savour of it in their hearts. And therefore men do not know Christ, nor know how to carry it towards him, because they do not know the voice of the prophets, who testified beforehand concerning Christ. Thirdly, God overruled them, for the accomplishment of the prophecies of the Old-Testament: Because they knew not the voice of the prophets, which warned them not to touch God’s Anointed, they fulfilled them in condemning him; for so it was written that Messiah the prince shall be cut off, but not for himself. Note, It is possible that men may be fulfilling scripture prophecies, even when they are breaking scripture precepts, particularly in the persecution of the church, as in the persecution of Christ. And this justifies the reason which is sometimes given for the obscurity of scripture prophecies, that, if they were too plain and obvious, the accomplishment of them would thereby be prevented. So Paul saith here, Because they knew not the voice of the prophets, therefore they have fulfilled them, which implies that if they had understood them they would not have fulfilled them. Fourthly, All that was foretold concerning the sufferings of the Messiah was fulfilled in Christ (v. 29): When they had fulfilled all the rest that was written of him, even to the giving of him vinegar to drink in his thirst, then they fulfilled what was foretold concerning his being buried. They took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. This is taken notice of here as that which made his resurrection the more illustrious. Christ was separated from this world, as those that are buried have nothing more to do with this world, nor this world with them; and therefore our complete separation from sin is represented by our being buried with Christ. And a good Christian will be willing to be buried alive with Christ. They laid him in a sepulchre, and thought they had him fast.

[3.] That he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption. This was the great truth that was to be preached; for it is the main pillar, by which the whole fabric of the gospel is supported, and therefore he insists largely upon this, and shows,

First, That he rose by consent. When he was imprisoned in the grave for our debt, he did not break prison, but had a fair and legal discharge from the arrest he was under (v. 30): God raised him from the dead, sent an angel on purpose to roll away the stone from the prison-door, returned to him the spirit which at his death he had committed into the hands of his Father, and quickened him by the Holy Ghost. His enemies laid him in a sepulchre, with design he should always lay there; but God said, No; and it was soon seen whose purpose should stand, his or theirs.

Secondly, That there was sufficient proof of his having risen (v. 31): He was seen many days, in divers places, upon divers occasions, by those that were most intimately acquainted with him; for they came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, were his constant attendants, and they are his witnesses unto the people. They were appointed to be so, have attested the thing many a time, and are ready to attest it, though they were to die for the same. Paul says nothing of his own seeing him, which was more convincing to himself than it could be when produced to others.

Thirdly, That the resurrection of Christ was the performance of the promise made to the patriarchs; it was not only true news, but good news: “In declaring this, we declare unto you glad tidings (Act 13:32; Act 13:33), which should be in a particular manner acceptable to you Jews. So far are we from designing to put any slur upon you, or do you any wrong, that the doctrine we preach, if you receive it aright, and understand it, brings you the greatest honour and satisfaction imaginable; for it is in the resurrection of Christ that the promise which was made to your fathers is fulfilled to you.” He acknowledges it to be the dignity of the Jewish nation that to them pertained the promises (Rom. ix. 4), that they were the heirs of the promise, as they were the children of the patriarchs to whom the promises were first made. The great promise of the Old Testament was that of the Messiah, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, and not the family of Abraham only; though it was to be the peculiar honour of that family that he should be raised up of it, yet it was to be the common benefit of all families that he should be raised up to them. Note, 1. God hath raised up Jesus, advanced him, and exalted him; raised him again (so we read it), meaning from the dead. We may take in both senses. God raised up Jesus to be a prophet at his baptism, to be a priest to make atonement at his death, and to be a king to rule over all at his ascension; and his raising him up from the dead was the confirmation and ratification of all these commissions, and proved him raised of God to these offices. 2. This is the fulfilling of the promises made to the fathers, the promise of sending the Messiah, and of all those benefits and blessings which were to be had with him and by him: “This is he that should come, and in him you have all that God promised in the Messiah, though not all that you promised yourselves.” Paul puts himself into the number of the Jews to whom the promise was fulfilled: To us their children. Now, if those who preached the gospel brought them these glad tidings, instead of looking upon them as enemies to their nation, they ought to caress them as their best friends, and embrace their doctrine with both arms; for if they valued the promise so much, and themselves by it, much more the performance. And the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, which was the great thing that the Jews found themselves aggrieved at, was so far from infringing the promise made to them that the promise itself, that all the families of the earth should be blessed in the Messiah, could not otherwise be accomplished.

Fourthly, That the resurrection of Christ was the great proof of his being the Son of God, and confirms what was written in the second Psalm (thus ancient was the order in which the Psalms are now placed), Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. That the resurrection of Christ from the dead was designed to evidence and evince this is plain from that of the apostle (Rom. i. 4): He was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. When he was first raised up out of obscurity, God declared concerning him by a voice from heaven, This is my beloved Son (Matt. iii. 17), which has a plain reference to that in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son. Abundance of truth there is couched in those words: that this Jesus was begotten of the Father before all worlds–was the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, as the son is of the father’s–that he was the logos, the eternal thought of the eternal mind,–that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin; for upon this account, also, that holy thing was called the Son of God (Luke i. 35), that he was God’s agent in creating and governing the world, and in redeeming it and reconciling it to himself, and faithful as a son in his own house, and as such was heir of all things. Now all this, which was declared at Christ’s baptism and again at his transfiguration, was undeniably proved by his resurrection. The decree which was so long before declared was then confirmed; and the reason why it was impossible he should be held by the bands of death was because he was the Son of God, and consequently had life in himself, which he could not lay down but with a design to resume it. When his eternal generation is spoken of, it is not improper to say, This day have I begotten thee; for from everlasting to everlasting is with God as it were one and the same eternal day. Yet it may also be accommodated to his resurrection, in a subordinate sense, “This day have I made it to appear that I have begotten thee, and this day have I begotten all that are given to thee;” for it is said (1 Pet. i. 3) that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as our God and Father, hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Fifthly, That his being raised the third day, so as not to see corruption, and to a heavenly life, so as no more to return to corruption, that is, to the state of the dead, as others did who were raised to life, further confirms his being the Messiah promised.

a. He rose to die no more; so it is expressed, Rom. vi. 9: As concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, that is, to the grave, which is called corruption, Job xvii. 14. Lazarus came out of the grave with his grave-clothes on, because he was to use them again; but Christ, having no more occasion for them, left them behind. Now this was the fulfilling of that scripture (Isa. lv. 3), I will give you the sure mercies of David; ta hosia Dabid ta pista—the holy things of David, the faithful things; for in the promise made to David, and in him to Christ, great stress is laid upon the faithfulness of God (Psa 89:1; Psa 89:2; Psa 89:5; Psa 89:24; Psa 89:33), and upon the oath God had sworn by his holiness, Ps. lxxxix. 35. Now this makes them sure mercies indeed that he who is entrusted with the dispensing of them has risen to die no more; so that he ever lives to see his own will executed, and the blessings he hath purchased for us given out to us. As, if Christ had died and had not risen again, so if he had risen to die again, we had come short of the sure mercies, or at least could not have been sure of them.

b. He rose so soon after he was dead that his body did not see corruption; for it is not till the third day that the body begins to change. Now this was promised to David; it was one of the sure mercies of David, for it was said to him in Ps. xvi. 10, Neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption, v. 35. God had promised to David that he would raise up the Messiah of his seed, who should therefore be a man, but should not, like other men, see corruption. This promise could not have its accomplishment in David, but looked forward to Christ.

(a.) It could not be accomplished in David himself (v. 36), for David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God, who raised him up to be what he was, fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption. Here we have a short account of the life, death, and burial, of the patriarch David, and his continuance under the power of death. [a.] His life: He served his own generation, by the will of God, before he slept the sleep of death. David was a useful good man; he did good in the world by the will of God. He made God’s precepts his rule; he served his own generation so as therein to serve God; he so served and pleased men (as whatever the king did pleased the people, 2 Sam. iii. 36), as still to keep himself the faithful servant of God. See Gal. i. 10. He served the good of men, but did not serve the will of men. Or, by the will of God’s providence so ordering it, qualifying him for, and calling him to, a public station, he served his own generation; for every creature is that to us which God makes it to be. David was a great blessing to the age wherein he lived; he was the servant of his generation: many are the curse, and plague, and burden of their generation. Even those that are in a lower and narrower sphere must look upon it that they live to serve their generation; and those that will do good in the world must make themselves servants of all, 1 Cor. ix. 19. We were not born for ourselves, but are members of communities, to which we must study to be serviceable. Yet here is the difference between David and Christ, that David was to serve only his own generation, that generation in which he lived, and therefore when he had done what he had to do, and written what he had to write, he died, and continued in the grave; but Christ (not by his writings or words upon record only as David, but by his personal agency) was to serve all generations, must ever live to reign over the house of Jacob, not as David, for forty years, but for all ages, as long as the sun and moon endure, Psa 89:29; Psa 89:36; Psa 89:37. His throne must be as the days of heaven, and all generations must be blessed in him, Ps. lxxii. 17. [b.] His death: He fell asleep. Death is a sleep, a quiet rest, to those who, while they lived, laboured in the service of God and their generation. Observe, He did not fall asleep till he had served his generation, till he had done the work for which God raised him up. God’s servants have their work assigned them; and, when they have accomplished as a hireling their day, then, and not till then, they are called to rest. God’s witnesses never die till they have finished their testimony; and then the sleep, the death, of the labouring man will be sweet. David was not permitted to build the temple, and therefore when he had made preparation for it, which was the service he was designed to, he fell asleep, and left the work to Solomon. [c.] His burial: He was laid to his fathers. Though he was buried in the city of David (1 Kings ii. 10), and not in the sepulchre of Jesse his father in Bethlehem, yet he might be said to be laid to his fathers; for the grave, in general, is the habitation of our fathers, of those that are gone before us, Ps. xlix. 19. [d.] His continuance in the grave: He saw corruption. We are sure he did not rise again; this Peter insists upon when he freely speaks of the patriarch David (ch. ii. 29): He is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. He saw corruption, and therefore that promise could not have its accomplishment in him. But,

(b.) It was accomplished in the Lord Jesus (v. 37): He whom God raised again saw no corruption; for it was in him that the sure mercies were to be reserved for us. He rose the third day, and therefore did not see corruption then; and he rose to die no more, and therefore never did. Of him therefore the promise must be understood, and no other.

c. Having given them this account of the Lord Jesus, he comes to make application of it.

(a.) In the midst of his discourse, to engage their attention, he had told his hearers that they were concerned in all this (v. 26): “To you is the word of this salvation sent, to you first. If you by your unbelief make it a word of rejection to you, you may thank yourselves; but it is sent to you for a word of salvation; if it be not so, it is your own fault.” Let them not peevishly argue that because it was sent to the Gentiles, who had no communion with them, therefore it was not sent to them; for to them it was sent in the first place. “To you men this is sent, and not to the angels that sinned. To you living men, and not to the congregation of the dead and damned, whose day of grace is over.” He therefore speaks to them with tenderness and respect: You are men and brethren; and so we are to look upon all those that stand fair with us for the great salvation as having the word of salvation sent to them. Those to whom he does by warrant from heaven here bring the word of salvation are, [a.] The native Jews, Hebrews of the Hebrews, as Paul himself was: “Children of the stock of Abraham, though a degenerate race, yet to you is this word of salvation sent; nay, it is therefore sent to you, to save you from your sins.” It is an advantage to be of a good stock; for, though salvation does not always follow the children of godly parents, yet the word of salvation does: Abraham will command his children and his house-hold after him. [b.] The proselytes, the Gentiles by birth, that were in some degree brought over to the Jews’ religion: “Whosoever among you that feareth God. You that have a sense of natural religion, and have subjected yourselves to the laws of that, and taken hold of the comforts of that, to you is the word of this salvation sent; you need the further discoveries and directions of revealed religion, are prepared for them, and will bid them welcome, and therefore shall certainly be welcome to take the benefit of them.”

(b.) In the close of his discourse he applies what he had said concerning Christ to his hearers. He had told them a long story concerning this Jesus; now they would be ready to ask, What is all this to us? And he tells them plainly what it is to them.

[a.] It will be their unspeakable advantage if they embrace Jesus Christ, and believe this word of salvation. It will relieve them where their greatest danger lies; and that is from the guilt of their sins: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren–we are warranted to proclaim it to you, and you are called to take notice of it.” He did not stand up to preach before them, but to preach to them, and not without hopes of prevailing with them; for they are men, reasonable creatures, and capable of being argued with; they are brethren, spoken to, and dealt with, by men like themselves; not only of the same nature, but of the same nation. It is proper for the preachers of the gospel to call their hearers brethren, as speaking familiarly to them, and with an affectionate concern for their welfare, and as being equally interested with them in the gospel they preach. Let all that hear the gospel of Christ know these two things–1st, That it is an act of indemnity granted by the King of kings to the children of men, who stand attainted at his bar of treason against his crown and dignity; and it is for and in consideration of the mediation of Christ between God and man that this act of grace is passed and proclaimed (v. 38): “Through this man, who died and rose again, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. We have to tell you, in God’s name, that your sins, though many and great, may be forgiven, and how it is come about that they may be so, without any injury to God’s honour, and how you may obtain the forgiveness of your sins. We are to preach repentance for the remission of sins, and divine grace giving both repentance and remission of sins. The remission of sins is through this man. By his merit it was purchased, in his name it is offered, and by his authority it is bestowed; and therefore you are concerned to be acquainted with him, and interested in him. We preach to you the forgiveness of sins. That is the salvation we bring you, the word of God; and therefore you ought to bid us welcome and look upon us as your friends, and messengers of good tidings.” 2ndly, That it does that for us which the law of Moses could not do. The Jews were jealous for the law, and because it prescribed expiatory and pacificatory sacrifices, and a great variety of purifications, fancied they might be justified by it before God. “No,” saith Paul, “be it known to you that it is by Christ only that those who believe in him, and none else, are justified from all things, from all the guilt and stain of sin, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (v. 39); therefore they ought to entertain and embrace the gospel, and not to adhere to the law in opposition to it, because the gospel is perfective, not destructive, of the law. Note, 1. The great concern of sinners it to be justified, to be acquitted from guilt and accepted as righteous in God’s sight. 2. Those who are truly justified are acquitted from all their guilt; for if any be left charged upon the sinner he is undone. 3. It was impossible for a sinner to be justified by the law of Moses. Not by his moral law, for we have all broken it, and are transgressing it daily, so that instead of justifying us it condemns us. Not by his remedial law, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin, should satisfy God’s offended justice, or pacify the sinner’s wounded conscience. It was but a ritual and typical institution. See Heb 9:9; Heb 10:1; Heb 10:4. 4. By Jesus Christ we obtain a complete justification; for by him a complete atonement was made for sin. We are justified, not only by him as our Judge, but by him as our righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. 5. All that believe in Christ, that rely upon him and give up themselves to be ruled by him, are justified by him, and none but they. 6. What the law could not do for us, in that it was weak, that the gospel of Christ does; and therefore it was folly, out of a jealousy for the law of Moses and the honour of that institution, to conceive a jealousy of the gospel of Christ and the designs of that more perfect institution.

[b.] It is at their utmost peril if they reject the gospel of Christ, and turn their backs upon the offer now made them (Act 13:40; Act 13:41): Beware therefore; you have a fair invitation given you, look to yourselves, lest you either neglect or oppose it.” Note, Those to whom the gospel is preached must see themselves upon their trial and good behaviour, and are concerned to beware lest they be found refusers of the grace offered. “Beware lest you not only come short of the blessings and benefits spoken of in the prophets as coming upon those that believe, but fall under the doom spoken of in the prophets as coming upon those that persist in unbelief: lest that come upon you which is spoken of.” Note, The threatenings are warnings ; what we are told will come upon impenitent sinners is designed to awaken us to beware lest it should come upon us. Now the prophecy referred to we have Hab. i. 5, where the destruction of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans is foretold as an incredible unparalleled destruction; and this is here applied to the destruction that was coming upon that nation by the Romans, for their rejecting the gospel of Christ. The apostle follows the Septuagint translation, which reads, Behold, you despisers (for, behold, you among the heathen); because it made the text more apposite to his purpose. 1st, “Take heed lest the guilt come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets–the guilt of despising the gospel and the tenders of it, and despising the Gentiles that were advanced to partake of it. Beware lest it be said to you, Behold, you despisers.” Note, It is the ruin of many that they despise religion, they look upon it as a thing below them, and are not willing to stoop to it. 2ndly, “Take heed lest the judgment come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets: that you shall wonder and perish, that is, wonderfully perish; your perdition shall be amazing to yourselves and all about you.” Those that will not wonder and be saved shall wonder and perish. Those that enjoyed the privileges of the church, and flattered themselves with a conceit that these would save them, will wonder when they find their ,,am presumption overruled and that their privileges do but make their condemnation the more intolerable. Let the unbelieving Jews expect that God will work a work in their days which you shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. This may be understood as a prediction, either, 1. Of their sin, that they should be incredulous, that that great work of God, the redemption of the world by Christ, though it should be in the most solemn manner declared unto them, yet they would in no wise believe it, Isa. liii. 1, Who hath believed our report? Though it was of God’s working, to whom nothing is impossible, and of his declaring, who cannot lie, yet they would not give credit to it. Those that had the honour and advantage to have this work wrought in their days had not the grace to believe it. Or, 2. Of their destruction. The dissolving of the Jewish polity, the taking of the kingdom of God from them and giving it to the Gentiles, the destruction of their holy house and city, and the dispersion of their people, was a work which one would not have believed should have ever been done, considering how much they had been the favourites of Heaven. The calamities that were brought upon them were such as were never before brought upon any people, Matt. xxiv. 21. It was said of their destruction by the Chaldeans, and it was true of their last destruction, All the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the enemy would have entered into the gates of Jerusalem as they did, Lam. iv. 12. Thus is there a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity, especially to the despisers of Christ, Job xxxi. 3.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Passing through (). It is not clear why Paul and Barnabas left Perga so soon nor why they went to Antioch in Pisidia. Ramsay suggests malaria that spurred them on to the hills after the desertion of John Mark. They preached at Perga on the return (14:25) and apparently hurried away now. Farrar thinks that the hot weather had driven the population to the hills. At any rate it is not difficult to imagine the perils of this climb over the rough mountain way from Perga to Pisidian Antioch to which Paul apparently refers in 2Co 11:26.

Sat down (). Ingressive aorist active indicative, took their seats as visiting Jews, possibly in the seats of the rabbis (J. Lightfoot). Whether they expected to be called on or not, they were given the opportunity as prominent visitors. The Pisidian Antioch was really in Phrygia, but towards Pisidia to distinguish it from Antioch on the Maeander (Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, p. 25). It was a colony like Philippi and so a free city. If Paul is referring to South Galatia and not North Galatia in Ga 4:13 when he says that his preaching in Galatia at first was due to illness, then it was probably here at Pisidian Antioch. What it was we have no means of knowing, though it was a temptation in his flesh to them so severe that they were willing to pluck out their eyes for him (Ga 4:14f.). Opthalmia, malaria, epilepsy have all been suggested as this stake in the flesh (2Co 12:7). But Paul was able to preach with power whatever his actual physical condition was.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

PAUL’S THEME (JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH) IN THE SYNAGOGUE OF ANTIOCH (IN PISIDIA), V. 14-43

1) “But when they departed from Perga,” (autoi de diethontes apo tes Pergas) “Then they, Paul and Barnabas, passing (traveling) thru Perga,” overland, across the country to Antioch of Pisidia where there were perils of rivers and perils of robbers,” 2Co 11:20. Some believe it was the report of these dangers that caused Mark to leave them there.

2) “They came to Antioch of Pisidia,” (paregenonto eis

Antiocheian ten Pisidian) “Arrived in the Pisidian Antioch,” or Antioch located in Pisidia, to distinguish it from the Antioch of Syria, the church from which they had gone out, Act 13:1-4.

3) “And went into the synagogue,” (kai elthontes eis ten sunagogen) “And entering into the Synagogue,” of their own accord or volition. There was a large Jewish population in this city, perhaps many of them acquaintances of Paul from his days in Tarsus, Act 11:25.

4) “On the sabbath day, and sat down.” (te hemera ton sabbaton ekathisan) “On the day of the sabbath they sat down,” to take part in the Sabbath devotions, reading of the Old Testament Scriptures, and exhortations regarding them, Act 13:15. This was Paul’s practice to be where the people were on the Sabbath for prayer and to witness for Jesus Christ, Act 1:8; Mat 5:15-16; Act 16:13; Act 17:2; Act 18:4; Act 19:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

14. Entering, upon the day of the Sabbaths. He putteth the plural number instead of the singular, as it falleth out oftentimes in other places of Scripture; for they were wont to assemble themselves together upon the Sabbaths, lest their rest should be unprofitable and sluggish. The institution of the Sabbath had another end also, that it might be a figure of the spiritual rest when as the faithful, being dead to the world and the flesh, abandon their own will, and cease from their works. Because we have the truth hereof in Christ, whilst that being buried together with him we put off the old man; therefore the old figure is past. But God had respect also unto the politic use, that the Jews, being free from all other cares and businesses, might keep their holy assemblies; so that the ceasing off from earthly works did give a place to their heavenly exercises. So, even at this day we must use holy days; for we must therefore omit all other things that we may the more freely serve God.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

AT ANTIOCH OF PISIDIA. Act. 13:14-52.

In the synagogue, the first sermon of Paul. Act. 13:1.

Act. 13:14

But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia; and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

Act. 13:15

And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

Act. 13:16

And Paul stood up, and beckoning with the hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, hearken:

Act. 13:17

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm led he them forth out of it.

Act. 13:18

And for about the time of forty years as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness.

Act. 13:19

And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years:

Act. 13:20

and after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

Act. 13:21

And afterward they asked for a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space of forty years.

Act. 13:22

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom also he bare witness and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will.

Act. 13:23

Of this mans seed hath God according to promise brought unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus;

Act. 13:24

when John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Act. 13:25

And as John was fulfilling his course, he said, What suppose ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there cometh one after me the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose.

Act. 13:26

Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us is the word of this salvation sent forth.

Act. 13:27

For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

Act. 13:28

And though they found no cause of death in him, yet asked they of Pilate that he should be slain.

Act. 13:29

And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.

Act. 13:30

But God raised him from the dead:

Act. 13:31

and he was seen for many days of them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses unto the people.

Act. 13:32

And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers,

Act. 13:33

that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

Act. 13:34

And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he hath spoken on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.

Act. 13:35

Because he saith also in another psalm, Thou wilt not give thy Holy One to see corruption.

Act. 13:36

For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

Act. 13:37

but he whom God raised up saw no corruption.

Act. 13:38

Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins:

Act. 13:39

and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Act. 13:40

Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets:

Act. 13:41

Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days,

A work which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you.

One could hardly imagine a more brief statement of fact than that given to describe the long arduous journey from Perga to Antioch of Pisidia. (A carefully detailed description of this rough terrain is given by Conybeare and Howson in their book on the Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul.) The distance traveled was about 120 miles.
The synagogues of various cities offered the starting place for the preaching of the gospel. The Word of God was to be taken to the Jew first and this was the place where devout Jews could be found; such persons would give careful consideration to the things spoken. It is then natural to find here recorded that on the Sabbath day Paul and Barnabas found seats in the synagogue of Antioch.

433.

Tell in a brief way of the country traversed from Perga to Antioch of Pisidia (read Conybeare and Howson).

434.

How far is it from Perga to Antioch?

435.

Why was the gospel to be taken to the Jew first? Why would the synagogue be an especially good place to carry out this commission?

The order of the synagogue service is given in informal detail in Act. 13:15 a. It was customary for the law and the prophets or the psalms to be read; following this the application of the verses was to be given. It appears upon this occasion that previous arrangements had been made for Paul and Barnabas to give the word of exhortation. The rulers of the synagogue sent word to Barnabas and Paul that if they had any word of exhortation, now was the time to speak.

It was customary to ask visiting Jews to address the people, since they would not only give instruction but would possibly have some news of the conditions of Israel in general. This would have been especially true in this circumstance since Paul and Barnabas had but recently returned from the Holy City. But most of all, these two servants of Christ were anxious to declare the message of salvation. Paul immediately responded to the situation and arose to speak. The apostle had a gesture which he often used to attract the attention of those to whom he spoke; he employed this gesture here as he arose to address the synagogue. Paul preached to those of Antioch in Pisidia about:

436.

What is the order of the synagogue service?

437.

What arrangements were made between Paul and Barnabas and the rulers of the synagogue?

438.

Why would the Jews of Antioch be especially anxious to hear from Paul and Barnabas?

439.

What was the theme of Pauls Message? How did he develop it?

440.

To whose introduction is the one used by Paul similar?

441.

What two classes of people were spoken to by Paul?

Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God.

Paul used the same method in demonstrating this fact as did Stephen, Peter, Philip; proof from the Old Testament Scriptures. His introduction was very similar to the one used by Stephen.

Introduction: Act. 13:16-22.

Paul calls for the attention of both the Jews, Men of Israel, and the proselytes, ye that fear God. Act. 13:16 b.

The power of Israels God as shown in the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Act. 13:17.

Gods love for Israel in the wilderness. Act. 13:18.

The God of Israel fights for His people. Compare Deu. 7:1 for a list of the seven nations conquered from the departure out of Egypt to the reign of David, the whole time in which God was giving them full possession of the land. Act. 13:19.

Judges given until Samuel the prophet. Act. 13:20.

The request for a king granted in Saul, son of Kish, who ruled for forty years. Act. 13:21.

Saul removed to make room for David, the man after the heart of God, Act. 13:22. The statement made concerning David is a combination of 1Sa. 13:14 and Psa. 89:20.

This introduction was given to attract attention and interest as well as to create a favorable atmosphere for the theme to follow. Those of Antioch now knew that Paul was well acquainted with the history of Israel; to this history they had listened with great pride and interest; they intently followed the narrative.

Proposition: Some reasons why we can know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ or Israels Saviour.

The thought of the proposition is presented in verse twenty-three. A beautiful transition is made from David to Christ. Paul knew when he started his message that when he arrived in his message to king David he would then tell of Davids seed. This would bring him to the theme of his discourse.

The testimony of John the Baptist and the prophets. Act. 13:24-29.

Johns testimony. Act. 13:24-26.

No doubt John was well known among these Jews and hence the witness of John would carry real weight with those that heard. Act. 13:24-25.

A word of exhortation is given to receive the evident fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Act. 13:26.

Testimony of the prophets. Act. 13:27-29.

The trial, death and burial of Jesus were all in fulfillment of that which had been written.

II.

The testimony of the resurrection. Act. 13:30-37.

God raised Him from the dead and allowed Him to be seen for many days by His disciples. Act. 13:30-31.

This was all done in fulfillment of prophecy respecting the blessings promised to David. Act. 13:32-37.

The conclusion. Act. 13:38-41.

Through this One is found remission of sins. Act. 13:38.

Thus it could be said that there was found in Christ that which never could be found in the law, i.e. justification. Act. 13:39.

The warning. Act. 13:40-41.

Evidently the reception of the message was such that Paul saw they were in danger of stubbornly resisting the truthhe quotes an appropriate prophetic word on this point. He evidently did not deem it wise to call for a decision under such a circumstance.

442.

What two men form the extremities of Pauls introduction?

443.

What is the proposition of Pauls message?

444.

Show how the transition is made from the history of Israel to Jesus as the Christ.

445.

What two reasons are presented in Act. 13:24-29 for accepting Jesus as the Messiah?

446.

Why would the testimony of John the Baptist be of any value?

447.

How does Act. 13:26 fit into the outline?

448.

Of what did the prophets testify concerning the Christ?

449.

What reasoning is given in Act. 13:30-37?

450.

What was the real objection of the ruling Jews?

The desire to hear more the next sabbath. Act. 13:42.

Act. 13:42

And as they went out, they besought that these words might be spoken to them the next sabbath.

Act. 13:42 There were some who refused the message of eternal life but there were more who were interested. They did not fully understand but there was something in the word spoken that caused them to want to hear more. It would be seven days until the next gathering of the people. Requests were heard on every side that this same message might be repeated the next Sabbath.

The interest of the Jews and devout proselytes. Act. 13:43.

Act. 13:43

Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Act. 13:43 Luke tells us in specific description of the actions of those in Antioch. As Paul and Barnabas came out of the synagogue a crowd of interested Jews and devout Gentiles followed them; these persons were doubtlessly asking questions and listening attentively to the words of Paul and Barnabas. An unusual word is given concerning those who thus manifested their concern over the message of the truth. They were said to be in the grace of God (Act. 13:43 b). It is not to be concluded that they were possessors of salvation for the context plainly suggests otherwise. They were, however, in the generic sense under or in the grace of God; Jehovah was well pleased with their interest and at the same time they were the recipients of the message of redemption. If they would continue in their interest, prompted as it was by the gracious message of the gospel, they would most certainly become children of God.

Great gathering the next sabbath. Contradiction of the Jews. Act. 13:44-45.

Act. 13:44

And the next sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.

Act. 13:45

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.

Act. 13:44 What were the two servants of the Lord doing in the days from one sabbath to the next? While Paul was in Ephesus he spoke to the brethren night and day with tears. This was done not only publicly but from house to house. (Act. 20:18-21). We are persuaded that his conduct was no different here in Antioch.

When the next sabbath came, such an interest had been stirred up concerning this new message that almost the whole city gathered in and around the synagogue to listen to these two strangers who were so possessed by their message.

Act. 13:45 It was all right with the ruling Jews for these men to bring a new doctrine into their town just so long as it did not hinder their influence or hold on the people. But as these Jews saw more and more people crowding into the synagogue, and then, when they saw them begin to fill the street around the synagogue, fear and jealousy entered their hearts. By the time Paul and Barnabas were ready to speak, these Jews were filled with jealousy. There was only one way to oppose the efforts of these men. The rulers were respected by the people; hence, if they contradicted the things spoken, even if the contradictions would not stand inspection, they would be heeded. The message was too new. It could not be accepted without some degree of skepticism. And after all, had not these Jews always been their teachers? The contradictions were backed up with equally baseless railings. This procedure was carried out by the rulers of the Jews and not without some measure of success.

Turn to the Gentiles with good results. Act. 13:46-48.

Act. 13:46

And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It Was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Act. 13:47

For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying,

I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles,

That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the uttermost most part of the earth.

Act. 13:48

And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Act. 13:46 Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly. Gods grace is always sufficient for every accusation of the great accuser of our brethren. On this occasion the answer was a bold statement by both of the messengers of the results forthcoming from such actions. The Jews had been addressed throughout the message. Now they are told in no uncertain words that it was a privilege that they were abusing. God had decreed that the Jews were to be the first to hear the glad tidings but now if they were going to thus treat it they would be in reality thrusting from themselves the Word of God and judging themselves unworthy of eternal life. There was only one alternative if the Jews thus refused the message. It yet must be heard, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

451.

Why would the contradictions of these men be heeded above the words of Paul and Barnabas?

Act. 13:47 Paul and Barnabas could say now that the true meaning of Isaiahs words were known to them and were here being fulfilled by the refusal of the gospel by the Jews:

I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The mere words were known but their full impact and application was unknown until it now became apparent that they were going to be fulfilled by the very force of the circumstances.
The quotation from the prophet was received with great joy by the Gentiles. From the hearts of these Gentiles there arose praise and adoration to God for the hope thus given in His word.

Act. 13:48 The latter portion of verse forty-eight has been the source of many a controversy: As many as were ordained to eternal life believed. What is its meaning? We quote from D. D. Wheden on pages 164165 of his as a clear concise statement of the thought here involved:

Ordained to eternal lifeShould be rendered, disposed to eternal life. It plainly refers to the eager predisposition just above mentioned in the heart of many of these Gentiles on learning that old prophecy proclaims a Messiah for them. As many as were so inclined to the eternal life now offered committed themselves by faith to the blessed Jesus.

Rarely has a text been so violently wrenched from its connections with the context, and strained beyond its meaning for a purpose, than has been this clause in support of the doctrine of predestination. There is not the least plausibility in the notion that Luke in this simple history is referring to any eternal decree predestinating these men to eternal life. The word here rendered ordained usually signifies placed, positioned, disposed. It may refer to the material or to the mental position. It is a verb in the passive form, a form which frequently possesses a reciprocal active meaning; that is, it frequently signifies an action performed by ones self upon ones self. Thus, in Rom. 9:22, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction are carefully affirmed, even by predestinarians, to be fitted by themselves. Indeed, the very Greek word here rendered ordained is frequently used, compounded with a preposition, in the New Testament itself, in the passive form with a reciprocal meaning. Thus, Rom. 13:1, Be subject unto the higher powers, is literally, place yourselves under the higher powers. So, also Rom. 13:7; 1Co. 16:16; Jas. 4:7, and many other texts. The meaning we give is required by the antithesis between the Jews in verse forty-six and these Gentiles. The former were indisposed to eternal life and so believed not; these were predisposed to eternal life, and so believed. The permanent faith of the soul was consequently upon the predisposition of the heart and the predetermination of the will.

452.

How did these men judge themselves unworthy of eternal life?

453.

What were the words of the prophet that were fulfilled on this occasion?

454.

What contrast is found here?

455.

What is a better word than ordained in Act. 13:48?

456.

Why the straining and wrenching of this text?

The spread of the word. Act. 13:49.

Act. 13:49

And the word of the Lord was spread abroad throughout all the region.

Act. 13:49 The apostle Paul was never content to preach the word only in the city visited but the whole region or province in which the city was situated was to hear the word also, and so it was here in Pisidia, as it will be in Asia and other places the word of the Lord spread abroad throughout the region.

The persecution and leaving the city. Act. 13:50-51.

Act. 13:50

But the Jews urged on the devout women of honorable estate, and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their borders.

Act. 13:51

But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.

Act. 13:50 The rulers of the synagogue were men of real authority in all matters religious; however false or baseless their objections might be it seems they were heeded. The persons approached by the Jews of Antioch were the honorable women of the synagogue. Whether these women were Jews or only devout proselytes we are not told. They were probably the wives of the chief men of the city and thus influenced their husbands to promote a general persecution that would lead to the casting out of Paul and Barnabas.

Act. 13:51 The shaking of the dust from their feet was not an impetuous act of anger but rather in fulfillment of Jesus words (Mat. 10:14) as a judgment of God against these persons. The eternal life offered through the gospel had been refused. Here now was the climax of their refusal.

457.

Upon what is the permanent faith of the soul dependent?

458.

How could it be said that the word of the Lord spread abroad throughout the region?

459.

Who were the honorable women? Why approach them in this manner?

460.

Show the significance of the shaking the dust off their feet.

The joy of the disciples amid tribulation. Act. 13:52.

Act. 13:52

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Act. 13:52 How unlike the Christians of today were these new converts of Pisidia. When the preacher leaves a field today a general let down passes throughout the congregation; and especially would this be so if there were no prospect of securing another man to take the place vacated. How different in the church at Antioch. In spite of all the hard conditions the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. There is only one answer to this remarkable situationthe preaching and teaching of Paul accompanied by the willingness on the part of those that heard produced these results.

461.

In what way were the converts of Antioch unlike the Christians of today? What reason can be given?

462.

What is meant by being filled with the Holy Spirit?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(14) They came to Antioch in Pisidia.The town was one of the many cities built by Seleucus Nicator, and named after his father, Antiochus. It lay on the slopes of Mount Taurus, which the travelers must have crossed, had obtained the Jus Italicuma modified form of Roman citizenshipunder Augustus, and had attracted, as the sequel shows, a considerable Jewish population, who had made many proselytes among the Gentiles (Act. 13:42). It lay on the extreme limit of Pisidia, with Phrygia on the west and Lycaonia on the east.

Went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.The act implied that they were not listeners only, but teachers. (See Notes on Mat. 5:1; Luk. 4:20.) They sat as in the seat of the Rabbi, and their doing so was an indication, as the sequel shows, that they asked for permission to address the congregation. It will be remembered that the organisation of the synagogue excluded the sacerdotal element altogether, and that lay-preaching, assuming a sufficient training, was an established practice. It need hardly be said that neither elders nor scribes were necessarily of the tribe of Levi.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. Departed from Perga We are not told that they even preached in Perga until their return, (Act 14:25.) The theory of Howson is, that this present rapidity of movement arose from the nature of the seasons in this region. If we may suppose that Paul left Seleucia in early March, and spent two months in Cyprus, he would be at Perga in early May. At this time the lowlanders of Pamphylia are marching in caravans of the entire population for the cool recesses of the northern highlands. Paul would avail himself of this tide and press into the interior.

Antioch in Pisidia Proceeding northward, leaving his caravans as they scattered to their retreats, Paul passes the Lake Eyerdir and finds Pisidian Antioch not far from its northern shore. This city, which bears its addendum, in Pisidia, to distinguish it from the greater Antioch whence Paul started, was built by the same Seleucus. It stood on the great highway leading from Ephesus on the west to Iconium. and thence to the Syrian Gates, the narrow pass by which entrance was made into Syria. (See note on Act 6:9.) By this thoroughfare armies, caravans, and travel of every description have passed, as a natural route, for centuries. It was a Roman colony, so called; that is, a locality in which Roman soldiers were rewarded with landed estates for retirement and residence. Hence, over its Greek and Syrian population, it was largely a Romanized town, resounding with Latin elocution and flaring with the insignia of Roman sway. To this interior metropolis Paul wended his rapid way.

Synagogue So largely Greek and Roman was this proud town that Israel seems to have had but a single synagogue; and much to Paul’s advantage, that seems to have been largely thronged with Gentile proselytes to Judaism, or at least to the monotheism of Judaism. Such Gentiles declined circumcision, but they attended the synagogue to worship the true God, and hear, if the language permitted them, as the Septuagint translation, often did, the reading of the Old Testament. For the synagogue and its worship consult note on Matthew 4.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

14. On the sabbath day They seem to have withheld any proclamation of their doctrines until the synagogue opened the way.

Sat down Not, as some think, in a seat of dignity as prepared to teach, but quietly in the congregation.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.’

So the party, minus Mark, did not remain in Perga but moved on the hundred miles to Pisidian Antioch. Pisidian Antioch was actually in Phrygia, but was generally known as Pisidian Antioch because it was on the borders of Pisidia. No hint is given of the difficult and dangerous road travelled, and if Paul was suffering from malaria it must have made it ten times harder. The grit that enabled him to endure it was part of the same temperament that had possibly put off John Mark.

Once they had arrived they waited for the Sabbath day (the plural is simply intensive) and then made their way to the synagogue. This became Paul’s standard strategy, Athens being the exception that proved the rule. In the synagogues could always be found men versed in the Scriptures and hopefully ready to receive God’s message. But should they prove intractable and reject God’s message, he then had no compunction against going elsewhere and preaching to Gentiles outside the synagogues. (Had they preached to the Greeks first they would have found no welcome in the synagogues).

The synagogue service would commence with the recitation of the Shema (Deu 6:4-5), followed by synagogue prayers, which might include ‘the eighteen benedictions’, and a blessing. There would also be a reading from the Law, which followed a pattern covering the whole Law in three years, followed by a reading from the prophets, often selected by the visiting speaker (although not in this case), and a message could then be delivered by someone invited to speak by the synagogue ruler(s) (compare Luk 4:16).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Act 13:14-15. But when they departed from Perga, &c. From Perga, Paul and Barnabas went further into the country, and came to Antioch, a considerable city in the district of Pisidia; which lay north of Pamphylia, and consequently further from the sea. The situation of this place is particularized by the sacred writer, to intimate how carefullyit should be distinguished from Antioch in Syria, so much more frequently mentioned in this history. The apostles, as was usual, entered into the Jewish synagogue at Antioch on the sabbath-day, and sat down most probably in the chairs of the doctors, to intimate their errand. The ancient Jews had divided the law into fifty-three or fifty-four sections, and the prophets into as many; and by usually reading a section of each every sabbath-day, and joining two of the shortest together for two sabbath-days, they read the greatest part of the Old Testament over once every year.

Some say, that the custom was introduced by Ezra, and indeed it appears to have been of an ancient date. Till that reading of the law and the prophets was over, Paul and Barnabas sat as hearers; but after the reading of the Scriptures, the rulers of the synagogue used to permit or desire whom they pleased to explain what had been read, or to make some useful exhortations to the people; and either knowing something of the character of these two apostles, or perhaps merely from their sitting in the chairs of the doctors, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, desiring that if they had any doctrine or pious exhortation to deliver to the people, they would speak freely and openly in the synagogue. See the note on Luk 4:16.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Chapter 40

Prayer

Almighty God, there are sounds of joy in thy house today. Surely the marriage feast of the Lamb is ready! Thou hast taken us up to the top of a mountain, and has shown unto us in the vision of faith the cloudless land. Thou dost surprise us oftentimes with a sight of the beautiful country. Suddenly the night shineth as the day, and the day is made sevenfold in brightness. Sometimes thou dost make us tread upon the grave with holy scorn, taunting it because its victory is lost. These things thou causest to pass before us in Christ Jesus, the Child of Bethlehem, the Man of the Cross. In him we see all things; he is the open door into heaven. He is the revelation of thy person, and brightness and glory. In him is the fulness of the Godhead. His look is light. If we may but touch the hem of his garment, we shall be made whole. If he will but breathe upon us, this breathing shall be the gift of peace. Lord Jesus, make thy Church glad! Come to her in any form she can bear to look upon, either in great degradation, or in might and glory; in mortal agony, or in great strength and pomp. Come as thou wilt, and as we are able to bear the sight, and make thy Church this day glad with infinite joy. Thou knowest how long we have trembled in the dark cloud. Thou hast numbered the days of the bitter wind that has blown around our shrinking life. Thou knowest how often we have found the garden to be a wilderness; now come with the angels, and with the heavens of light, and let thy Church this day sit down at her Lord’s banquet and feel that his banner over her is love. We are weary of the world, we have drunk its cup, and found it shallow and bitter; we are now stirred by new inspirations which would lay hold of the heavens, and apply to the wounds of time the balm of immortality. Still we would be patient, though the road is full of sharp stones and turns that make us dizzy by their suddenness and violence. Still we would say now at the cradle, now at the grave The Lord’s will be done, for it alone is good. Give us such a hold of thyself in Christ, such a grip of essential truth and everlasting reality as shall make us strong, solid, noble in character, beneficent and redeeming in spirit and in action. May we separate ourselves from the world by distances that shall amaze ourselves. May we know the meaning of the contradictions which we find in Christ, who, though on earth, was in heaven; who, having no food, had bread enough and to spare; who, being a root out of a dry ground, was the flower of Jesse and the plant of renown. Lead us away from the narrow and the small and the contemptible, and may we count as our riches the gold of heaven, and our inheritance the very breadth of thine own infinity. We come in the name of Jesus, the name to sinners dear! He makes our life a beginning, our death a transient shadow, our heaven sympathy with God. Into this heaven we would now pass by the sacred way of the Cross. We will say, “Not our will, but thine be done.” Lord, do we say it well, with the lips of the heart, and with the accent of all-believing love? or, is it some letter we have learned, and which we utter with the mouth only? Write it in our hearts; make it part of our very life; may it be to our thirst the wine of heaven, and to our hunger the bread of life. Give us triumph as well as peace, joy that sings and shouts, and calls for organ and trumpet and mighty power of utterance to give it expression. We could not live alway in this high rapture, but if now we could but feel its inspiration, in one moment we should forget the sorrow of a lifetime, and anticipate the heaven beyond the riv. The Lord give us bread to eat. Lead us to living fountains of water, wipe away all tears from our eyes. Make us wise to redeem the time and do the work of life, and at the last may we meet those who have gone before, and those who are coming after, and the whole host of the Lamb in the Chamber where the feast is spread and where the gladness never ends. Amen.

Act 13:14-41

14. But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia [one of the many cities built by Seleucus Nicanor, and named after his father Antiochus], and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. [The act implied that they were not listeners only, but teachers. They sat in the seat of the Rabbi, and thus showed that they asked for permission to address the congregation.]

15. And after the reading of the law and the prophets [the order of the lessons was fixed by a kind of calendar] the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them [it was part of the duty of the elders to offer persons in such a position the opportunity of addressing the assembly], saying, Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

16. And Paul stood up, and beckoning with the hand [a gesture of waving rather than of beckoning, as if requesting silence], said [almost certainly in Greek], Men of Israel, and ye that fear God [the latter being those who, though in the synagogue, were of heathen origin], hearken.

17. The God of this people Israel [a speech, as we formerly hinted, modelled upon the plan of Stephen’s great apology] chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt [they were exalted in the sense of being innumerably multiplied], and with a high arm led them forth out of it.

18. And for about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness [the Greek word translated “suffered” differs by a single letter only from one which signifies to carry as a father carries his child, and that word is used in many of the better MSS. versions.]

19. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance,

20. for about four hundred and fifty years: and after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

21. And afterward they asked for a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin [the very tribe to which Paul himself belonged], for the space of forty years [the duration of the reign is not given in the Old Testament],

22. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom also he bare witness, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse [the words that follow are a composite quotation, after the manner of the Rabbis, made up of Psa 89:20 , and 1Sa 13:14 ], a man after my heart, who shall do all my will.

23. Of this man’s seed hath God according to promise brought unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus [even in those remote regions of Pisidia there was some vague knowledge of the life and death of Christ];

24. When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25. And as John was fulfilling his course [the tense implies continuous action], he said, What suppose ye that I am [the question is inferred from the substance of the answer, Mat 3:10 ; Joh 1:20-21 ]? I am not he. But behold, there cometh one after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose.

26. Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you that fear God [the two classes, as before, are pointedly contrasted], to us is the word of this salvation sent forth [the demonstrative pronoun connects the salvation with the Jesus just named: the expression “this salvation” recalls the corresponding terms, “this life,” Act 5:20 ].

27. For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath [the Apostle appeals to the synagogue ritual itself, which had just been read, in proof of what he was stating], fulfilled them by condemning him.

28. And though they found no cause of death in him [he had been technically condemned on the charge of blasphemy], yet asked they of Pilate that he should be slain [seeking to terrify him by the suggestion that acquittal would mean treason to Csar].

29. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him [unconsciously to themselves], they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.

30. But God raised him from the dead:

31. And he was seen for many days [he speaks as one who had personally conversed with the eye-witnesses] of them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are [now] his witnesses unto the people [literally, the people of God].

32. And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers,

33. how that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm [in some copies of the Old Testament what is now the first psalm was treated as a kind of prelude to the whole book, the enumeration beginning with what is now the second ], Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee [the first fulfilment was in a victorious king the final and complete fulfilment in Christ].

34. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption [ Psa 16:10 ], he has spoken on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.

35. Because he saith also in another psalm, Thou wilt not give thy Holy One to see corruption.

36. For David, after he had in his own generation served [ministered to] the counsel of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

37. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption.

38. Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins:

39. And by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

40. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets;

41. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you.

Paul’s First Recorded Speech

“PAUL and Barnabas went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.” They did not violently separate themselves from old traditions and religious companionships. Christianity has no battle with Judaism. Surely the Christian is not the enemy of the Jew; he owes everything precious in his civilization, and precious in his hope, to the Jew, and therefore to hold angry controversy with him would be to display an unappreciative and an unjust disposition of spirit. There was a custom in the synagogue which we have not in the Christian Church. The rulers of the synagogue, noticing distinguished persons in the audience, would almost invariably send to them or speak to them, saying If you wish to address the assembly, we shall be glad to hear you. The lessons of the day were read, the grand lessons from the Old Testament, for then there was no other covenant, and then the rulers of the synagogue would say to distinguished-looking men in the assembly If you have anything to say to the people, say on. There is singular dignity and nobleness in that arrangement; a fearlessness which does not seem to characterize the spirit of the Church in which we live. Who dares now throw the meeting open to any stranger who may have come within its four corners? In the olden time they seemed to believe that the Word was its own defence, that the fire of the Lord would disinfect whatever it touched, and that to be in the synagogue was to be reverent, deeply religious, and loyal to the spirit of the house. These things have all changed. Men can be in the Christian Church in an un-Christian spirit. The mere verbalist; yes, and even the mocker, may find his way into the church, and might be only too glad to have an opportunity impertinently and rudely to contradict what he did not understand. The usual challenge having been given, PAUL stood up. That was an event in history. No other standing up was equal to it. In that brief sentence you have the beginning of a battle which was concluded with these words “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness!” Paul did not stand up by himself. Men are lifted up. Every action of the loyal life is an action of inspiration. The good man lays no plans, and makes no arrangements which can exclude the sudden and incalculable inspiration of God. Having written his outline of purpose and thought, he says “I hold this merely as a trustee, it is not mine, it is God’s, I may never look at it more. I will cry mightily and lovingly to Heaven and ask for direction, and according to the word of the Lord I will do.” You cannot plan an outline that will exactly, hold God’s inspiration. You cannot outline what you will finally do. Let the publicans, the pagans, forecast and determine and draw the geometrical figures within which their movements may be described, but the Christian always goes out without knowing whither he is going, except that he is going with God! To that high faith not many souls have come; we are still in the infant school of prudence and calculation; not in the high school of inspiration and madness.

This is Paul’s first recorded speech. He has been talking before; yes, and he has been mightily persuading the Jews that the Man whom he preaches is Christ, but this is his first recorded statement of Jewish history and Christian faith. I like to be present at beginnings. There is a subtle, tender, mysterious joy about planting roots and sowing seed, covering it up and leaving it in the darkness; then what a surprise it is to come back in due time and find the green lancet puncturing the soil and coming up to look at the light it has been groping for all the while! Sometimes our first speeches were very poor because they were our own. We made them, we wrote them out, graved them upon the unwilling memory, and they were like something put on, not growing out; and so we begged our friends who were unhappy enough to be able to quote some portions of them to forget them if they could! But the first speeches of the Christian defender were incapable of improvement. They were as complete as the fiat of God which said “Let there be light: and there was light.” There was no emendation, no correction of words, no reconstruction of phrases, no mechanical tinkering of the grand utterance. When Stephen opened his mouth and spoke to the wondering assembly, he himself was more surprised by the eloquence than any man that heard it. Surely Paul will grow in speaking power? No! Surely he will at first be timid and stumbling and incorrect, and people will say It is a maiden effort, but by-and-by he may become a tolerable speaker? No! How do you account for that?

Paul based his apology on the model of Stephen. When he performed his first miracle, which we saw in our last reading, it was a miracle modelled on Christ’s transaction with himself on the way to Damascus. As we said before, he probably thought that there was only one miracle that could be done, and that was to smite the offending man with temporary blindness. And now perhaps he thinks there is but one speech to be made! Is not this speech modelled on the lines of Stephen’s, which great speech Saul heard? We cannot tell of what elements our life is made up. It is no one shower of rain that makes the summer green. We are gathering from every point all day long; we are daily at school, and every providence that passes before us leaves some impress on our life. Paul was no student of rhetoric when he listened to Stephen; but Stephen’s speech, like all vital speech, got into the man, and became part of his intellectual and spiritual life. He never forgot that speech! When he wanted to put his fingers in his ears and shut out the thundering eloquence, he could not exclude the resounding tone! Paul began as Stephen did, with a narrative of Jewish history. To their credit be it spoken, the Jews were never tired of hearing their own history. Whenever a speaker arose in Jewish society determined to carry a specific point, he came with all the background of Jewish history, and under the influence of recollections heroic and thrilling, he endeavored to carry the immediate point of the occasion. One might have expected that the Jews would have become weary of hearing their history time after time, but historians record it to their credit that they were always ready to hear the living story again. Are we patient under the citation of the facts which make up our history? We cannot live in sentiment. You cannot build a castle in the air that you can live in; it must be founded upon rock, however high up into the air you may carry it. This was the great law of Jewish eloquence and Jewish appeal; basing the whole argument upon the rock of undisputed history. Do not some of us occasionally say, “Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and his love”? therein we are partly Jewish that is our story! As the Jews began from the formation of themselves as a people, we begin at Bethlehem, and in proportion as we are in the right spirit and temper, we are never tired of hearing the old, old story; it brings its own dew with it, like every morning in the year. When we are tired of hearing that story the kingdom of heaven amongst men will come to a standstill in its halting progress.

Notice in this speech what we may call Paul’s grip of GOD. I know not any speech of the same length in which the sacred word occurs so frequently. Gather the phrases together, and see if this be not so: God chose our fathers; God destroyed seven nations; God gave them judges; God gave them Saul; God raised unto Israel a Saviour; God raised him from the dead; God , God, GOD! That man can never be put down! When he dies he will die a victor, and in his last speech will he make mention of a crown of glory. The factor we have omitted from our sermons is only GOD! We are afraid or ashamed of his name; we pronounce it hesitatingly, mincingly, timidly. Paul did not use it so; he hurled it like a thunderbolt; he measured everything by that grand standard. All through history he saw a Figure after the similitude of God. You can dislodge a man from any position but that, but once in the munitions of rocks, once really hidden in the very centre of the sanctuary of the Divine presence and providence, a man treats so-called “great questions” as a drop of a bucket, he takes up the isles as a very little thing, he sits with God on the circle of the earth and all things pompous and great, and in figure dominating and forceful, he stands back in the shadow of a sublime contempt! We lose hold of history when we lose hold of God.

As we find Stephen’s character in Stephen’s apology, so we may find Paul’s character in Paul’s exposition. Mark his courtesy ” Paul stood up, and, beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.” He was no rough intruder; no rude annotator had found his way to the synagogue that day, but a gentleman born, and indestructible, all through and through, polite, refined, courteous, gentlemanly. His tact is most wonderful; he notices how the assembly is made up he is a poor speaker who takes no note of his hearers; he must, without staring, take in the whole company; he must take the census, intellectual and moral, and know who is before him. Paul saw not only the Jews, but the Greeks and proselytes, who, wearied with the absurdities of polytheism, had come to believe there was One God, a spiritual, invisible, eternal God! So Paul accosted both classes, “Men of Israel” always distinguishable, never to be confounded with others “and ye that fear God” converted from mythology to true spirituality of thought “give audience.” How delicately he puts the case in the twenty-seventh verse; speaking of the dwellers at Jerusalem and their rulers, he said, “Because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.” They knew not the voice of the prophets; they heard the letter, they did not know the inner and spiritual meaning. We do not read a book when we peruse its pages as to its mere lines and letters. Sometimes we read a book by reading only one page of it; we know we have the soul of it in our soul, and all the gamut of its music repeats itself in our sympathetic ear. Sometimes we read a book right through and know nothing about it. Pre-eminently is this so with the Bible. It is possible to read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation and to know nothing about its secret soul, for it is a book of analogue and parable and suggestion, and not literal meaning, having about it a mystery greater than itself; not a fact, but a truth; not a point, but a circle.

How wondrously Paul introduced the right way of quoting Scripture. There is hardly a quotation which he makes here which is not a double or treble quotation turned into one. For example, in referring to David, Paul says that God gave testimony and said, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” That passage cannot be found in the Old Testament; it is at least three passages made into one. It is all in the Bible, but is in no one place in the Scripture. He does not quote the Bible who quotes mere texts. Those texts in their isolation may or may not be in the Bible; the Bible is larger than any one text that is in it. There is a spirit of collocation and a spirit of quotation, a Bible- spirit that can bring from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south lines that shall focalize in one intense and dazzling glory. Away, literalists and word-mongers, and text-quoters, unless they have in them the spirit which sees how lines converge and focalize, and how scattered parts sum themselves up into one massive doctrine. Paul’s voice surely had a quiver in it which no reporter could catch for in reports we do not get the tonic colour and force of speech when he said “God gave unto them SAUL, a man of the tribe of BENJAMIN.” There he repeated his own name; his name was Saul, and his tribe was Benjamin, and as he himself had changed the Saul into Paul, and gone over to the Christian host, he would call others to a new name and a new fellowship, the name of Christ and the fellowship of the whole world. Now, at the very beginning Paul is himself “Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses.” That is a new voice in the Church; that is a doctrinal teacher; justified, justified by the law: this is a new intellect, no other man has ever fought with these weapons. From this moment Christian speech acquires a new accent; new words are minted, new values are attached to old expressions. Here we have the logician, the philosopher, the theologian. This man will one day write an epistle “hard to be understood.”

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

Ver. 14. They sat down ] Bullinger’s note here is very good. Non importune nec impudenter se ingerunt Paulus et Barnabas, nec more Anabaptistarum clamitant, Audite verbum Domini, poenitentiam agile; sed silentes expectant dicendi occasionem. Paul and Barnabas do not importunately and impudently thrust themselves into the pulpit, nor do they cry out (after the manner of the Anabaptists), Hear the word of the Lord, repent of your sins, &c., but they wait in silence for a fit opportunity, and till they are called to speak.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

14. ] It is not improbable that during this journey Paul may have encountered some of the ‘perils by robbers’ of which he speaks, 2Co 11:26 . The tribes inhabiting the mountains which separate the table-land of Asia Minor from the coast, were notorious for their lawless and marauding habits. Strabo says of Isauria, (xii. 6), and of the Pisidians, , , xii. 7. He gives a similar character of the Pamphylians.

or , Strabo, xii. 8, was founded originally (Strabo, ib.) by the Magnetes on the Meander, and subsequently by Seleucus Nicator, and became, under Augustus, a Roman colony ( , Strabo, ib.: ‘Pisidarum colonia Csarea, eadem Antiocheia.’ Plin. Act 13:24 .

‘In Pisidia juris Italici est colonia Antiochensium,’ Paulus, Digest. i. 15). Its position is described by Strabo as being on a hill, and was unknown or wrongly placed till Mr. Arundell found its ruins at a place now called Yalobatch, answering to Strabo’s description: where since an inscription has been found with the letters ANTIOCHEAE CAESARE (C. and H. pp. 205, 207 note).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 13:14 . : in this journey northwards to Antioch the Apostles would probably follow the one definite route of commerce between Perga and that city; the natural and easy course would lead them to Adada, now Kara Bavlo , and the dedication there of a church to St. Paul may point to the belief that he had visited the place on his way to Antioch (Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire , p. 21, and Zckler, in loco , who agrees here with Ramsay’s view). Although disagreeing with C. and H. in bringing the Apostles to Adada, Ramsay fully agrees with them in emphasising the dangers of the journey across the Pisidian highlands, and in referring to his travels from Perga across Taurus to Antioch and back his perils of rivers, and perils of robbers, 2Co 11:26 (see too Wendt, in loco (1899), in agreement with Ramsay, whose instances of the dangers of the way, from the notices of the inscriptions, should be consulted, u. s. ). , see critical notes. If we adopt with R.V., etc., . = an adjective, , “Pisidian Antioch,” or, as it was also called, Antioch towards Pisidia, or on the side of Pisidia, to distinguish it from Antioch on the Maeander, or Carian Antioch. At this period Antioch did not belong to Pisidia at all (trabo, pp. 557, 569, 577), but later the term Pisidia was widened, and so the expression “Antioch of Pisidia” came into vogue. Ptolemy, v., 4, 11, employs it and so some MSS. in the passage before us; see critical notes, and Ramsay, “Antioch in Pisidia,” in Hastings’ B.D., Church in the Roman Empire , p. 25, and Wendt (1899), in loco; see further on Act 16:6 . On the death of Amyntas, B.C. 25, Antioch became part of the Roman province Galatia, and a little later, some time before 6 B.C., it was made a colonia by Augustus, with Latin rights, and as such it became an administrative and military centre in the protection of the province against the Pisidian robbers in their mountain fortresses, Ramsay, u. s. There can be no doubt that Paul would also find there a considerable Jewish population, as the Jews were trusty supporters of the Seleucid kings, and found a home in many of the cities which they founded. : Ramsay supposes that the travellers hurried on from Perga (chief town of Pamphylia on the Cestrus, and an important place of commerce) to Antioch, without any evangelisation on their way, because in Perga the Apostle had been smitten with an attack of malarial fever, which obliged him to seek the higher ground of Antioch. In Gal 4:13 Ramsay finds a corroboration of this view, a passage in which Paul himself states that an illness occasioned his first preaching to the Churches of Galatia, i.e. , of the Roman province Galatia. The suggestion has much to recommend it, see St. Paul , p. 92. McGiffert’s remarks, however, should be consulted in support of the view that the illness overtook the Apostle at Antioch rather than at Perga, Apostolic Age , p. 177, and Weizscker, Apostolic Age , i. 275, E.T. , “to the Jew first,” was Paul’s primary rule, and here amongst those . he would find, perhaps, the best soil for his labours, cf. Act 16:14 , and also Act 13:5 , Act 14:1 , Act 16:13 , Act 17:2 ; Act 17:10 ; Act 17:17 , Act 18:4 , Act 19:8 . Against the doubts raised by the Tbingen School as to the historical character of the notice, see especially Wendt, 1888 and 1899 editions. It is inconceivable, as he says, that Paul, who could express himself as in Rom 1:16 ; Rom 9:32 ; Rom 10:16 ; Rom 11:30 , should entirely disregard the Jews in his missionary efforts. The notice in Act 16:13 , from a “We-source,” of St. Paul’s first. Sabbath at Philippi enables us to form a correct judgment as to his probable course in other places. .; not necessarily the first Sabbath after their arrival; some time may have been spent previously in mission work before a critical event took place, Ramsay, St. Paul , pp. 99, 100. : the word may mean that they sat down in the seat of the Rabbis, so J. Lightfoot, in loco , as intimating that they expected to be called upon to preach, or we may infer, Act 13:15 , that they were called upon on the present occasion because they were well known in the city as men who claimed to have a message to deliver, and the rulers of the synagogue could invite whom they would, Edersheim, Jewish Social Life , p. 281; Lumby, p. 252, “on the Jewish Manner of reading the Scriptures ”.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

when they, &c. = having gone through, as Act 13:6.

Antioch. The capital of Pisidia, and a Roman colony.

in = of.

the sabbath day = the day of the sabbaths. See note on Joh 20:1. This was after Passover A.D. 46, or 47.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

14. ] It is not improbable that during this journey Paul may have encountered some of the perils by robbers of which he speaks, 2Co 11:26. The tribes inhabiting the mountains which separate the table-land of Asia Minor from the coast, were notorious for their lawless and marauding habits. Strabo says of Isauria, (xii. 6), and of the Pisidians, , , xii. 7. He gives a similar character of the Pamphylians.

or , Strabo, xii. 8, was founded originally (Strabo, ib.) by the Magnetes on the Meander, and subsequently by Seleucus Nicator, and became, under Augustus, a Roman colony ( , Strabo, ib.:-Pisidarum colonia Csarea, eadem Antiocheia. Plin. Act 13:24.

In Pisidia juris Italici est colonia Antiochensium, Paulus, Digest. i. 15). Its position is described by Strabo as being on a hill, and was unknown or wrongly placed till Mr. Arundell found its ruins at a place now called Yalobatch, answering to Strabos description: where since an inscription has been found with the letters ANTIOCHEAE CAESARE (C. and H. pp. 205, 207 note).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Act 13:14-15. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after reading of the law and the prophets,

From which there were always two appointed lessons, one from the writings of Moses, and another from one of the prophets; and on this day it was probably the first chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, or the first chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them.

Act 13:15. The rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

They were seen to be Jews who were traveling, and they were invited by the minister who conducted the service to stand up and say anything they had to say. Then Paul stood up, and, beckoning, with his hand, said :

Act 13:16. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

You, who, Enough Gentiles, have come to worship Jehovah, God of Israel men of Israel.

Act 13:17-18. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.

You that are familiar with your Bibles will be struck with the great likeness of this sermon by Paul to that of Stephen. It seems to run on the same lines. Stephen gave the history of Israel to the Israelites. Paul does the same. Ah! we can never tell how great was the influence of that dying Stephen upon this living Paul. Paul is the continuation of Stephen. His blood was not lost in that day when they stoned him to death. From his ashes sprang this mighty preacher of the Word.

Act 13:19-22. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet, And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the Son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.

All this would be very pleasing to the Jews. They were never weary of hearing the ancient history of themselves as a chosen people. Paul ingratiates himself with them. The gospel that he had to preach was bitter to them, but he gilds the pill, and we must do what we can lawfully and properly to win the attention of men and their kindly feeling to us, although we must faithfully preach the gospel. Now he got as far as David into history. Now we will step to Christ.

Act 13:23-25. Of this mans seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

He brings in the testimony of John, who was universally respected among them. They regarded him as the last of the prophets, and so Paul tries to win their kind feelings.

Act 13:26-27. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

Not knowing it, they have fulfilled the prophecies of old in condemning Jesus, the Son of David

Act 13:28-29. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulcher.

You see he has given the story of Christ, his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection.

Act 13:30-31. But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

He does not expect them to believe without proofs, but he adduces the proof of the resurrection in the many witnesses who saw him after he had

Act 13:32-37. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers. God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again: as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption; But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

So that David was not speaking of himself, but he was speaking of another and higher David, his greater Son, the Son of God, begotten of the Father.

Act 13:38. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Now they have it. Now he brings it out very clearly indeed. Glad tidings are now ringing in their ears.

Act 13:39. And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The sins which the law of Moses did not propose to touch, yea, all sins which the law of Moses could only typically remove, all these sins are now really taken away by this glorious Son.

Act 13:40-41. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

You cannot imagine anything more appropriate to the occasion, more properly set forth, more bold, more clear; but these men were not prepared to receive it.

Act 13:42. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

They are earnest hearers who want to hear the same sermon again. But perhaps they did not expect to hear the same words, but to fret the same sense and have it explained more fully that they might the better grasp it. Oh! what a mercy it is, when the congregation is going away, if there are some that stop behind, anxious to learn somewhat more!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Act 13:14. , Antioch in Pisidia) a different one from that, concerning which Act 13:1 speaks.-, they sat) which was the usual posture of hearers. The antithesis is , having stood up, Act 13:16.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

38. THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL

Act 13:14-41

When the rulers of the synagogue at Antioch, Pisidia asked Paul and Barnabas if they had “any words of exhortation for the people”, Paul seized the opportunity (Act 13:14-16). His sermon is recorded for us in Act 13:17-41. It is essentially the same message he had heard Stephen preach in chapter 7.

The Jews were very interested in two things: (1) The Old Testament Scriptures, and (2) The Promise of the Messiah. Paul met them at the place of their interest and preached Christ to them. He did not debate with them. He simply preached Christ to them. He did so boldly in simple, unmistakable, irrefutable terms. He spoke with such clarity that when he was done with his sermon everyone in the synagogue understood exactly what he had said. Thus, by example as well as by precept, Paul shows us what preaching is. It is the bold and clear declaration of the free grace of God toward sinners through the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (1Co 2:1-8). In this passage of Holy Scripture the Apostle Paul declared the message of the gospel in five points.

THE GLORIOUS SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD (Act 13:17-19). When he stood to preach the gospel the first words that fell from his lips declared the sovereignty of God. First, he spoke of God’s sovereignty in election. “The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers” (Act 13:17). In the Old Testament God chose to make himself known only to the children of Israel, passing by all other nations. His choice of Israel was a matter of unconditional grace and absolute sovereignty (Deu 7:7-9). Even so, in his sovereign, electing love, God chose to save a great multitude from Adam’s fallen race through the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3-6; 2Th 2:13-14).

Secondly, Paul spoke of God’s sovereignty in redemption. “With an high arm he brought them out of Egypt” (Act 13:17). God’s deliverance, or redemption of Israel out of Egypt was typical of the redemption and salvation of his elect by Christ. As such, it was an act of particular, distinguishing, irresistible, and effectual grace. No sacrifice was provided for, no mercy was offered to, no grace was exercised toward the Egyptians. Everything that God did in the affair was for an elect, chosen people. So too, in the redemptive work of Christ and in the saving operations of his Spirit, everything is for God’s elect. Christ died for and redeemed God’s elect (Isa 53:8; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:15). The Holy Spirit regenerates and calls God’s elect, those who were redeemed by Christ (Psa 65:4). Even the intercessory prayers of Christ are made only for God’s elect (Joh 17:9; Joh 17:20). Those whom God purposed to bring out of Egypt, he brought out. Not even a hoof of the herds of Israel was left behind (Exo 10:26). And all whom God purposed to redeem by Christ were redeemed by him (Gal 3:13) and shall be saved by him (Joh 6:37-40). Not one shall be lost (Rom 8:28-30).

Thirdly, the Apostle declared God’s sovereignty in the operations of his grace and the works of providence. The inheritance of Israel in the land of Canaan was entirely the gift of God’s sovereign grace. “He divided their land unto them by lot” (Act 13:19). That means he did it without man’s choice or will (Pro 16:33). Israel did not conquer the land of Canaan. God conquered their enemies before them. Israel simply took possession of the land at God’s command, and received their inheritance by his decree. Even so, God’s elect do not conquer their enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Christ did that for us. We do not win eternal salvation. Christ won it for us! The believer simply takes possession of these things by faith at God’s command.

THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY AND SINFULNESS OF MAN (Act 13:18-21). The history of Israel is a history of human sin and divine mercy (Psalms 78; Psalms 103). The people whom God chose and redeemed as types of his elect were a sinful, undeserving, rebellious people. Paul here declares that God’s elect, like all other men, are fallen, depraved, justly condemned children of Adam (Rom 5:12; Eph 2:1-4).

THE SURE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE (Act 13:22-23). Throughout this brief survey of Old Testament history Paul was driving one point home to his hearers: God’s purpose of grace is sure! God promised a Redeemer, a King, and a Savior, and he must come! Our great God so wisely and sovereignly rules this world that even the depraved hearts and sinful acts of men cannot thwart his purpose. In fact, they are instruments by which God fulfills his eternal purpose of grace (Psa 76:10). This is Paul’s doctrine: In spite of our sin, rebellion, and unbelief, God is faithful! “God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus!”

THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Act 13:24-39). Paul’s message was “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Co 2:2). Everything he had said in the preceding verses was leading up to this point. In this part of his message the Apostle tells us five things about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. CHRIST CAME (Act 13:24-27). John the Baptist had but one mission. He was sent to prepare the way for and identify the Lord Jesus Christ. When he saw him, he pointed to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world…This is the Son of God!” (Joh 1:29-34). God himself assumed human flesh! “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Joh 1:14). The Son of God came into this world to save sinners by the sacrifice of himself.

2. CHRIST DIED (Act 13:27-29). Though he was clearly an innocent, righteous man, one who “knew no sin” (2Co 5:21), he was despised and rejected of men and was put to death under the penalty of the law, according to the Scriptures. The Son of God died by the hands of wicked men, but he died according to the purpose of God (Act 2:23). As the sinners’ Substitute he died as a common criminal under the wrath of God, to satisfy the justice of God for his people. Christ died that he might save guilty sinners from the wrath of God (Isa 53:4-11; Rom 5:6-8; Gal 3:13; 1Pe 1:18-20; 1Pe 3:18).

3. CHRIST AROSE (Act 13:30-37). The resurrection of Christ is God’s public declaration that he is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Son of David, that he has put away the sins of his people which were imputed to him by the satisfaction of divine justice, and that the “sure mercies of David”, (the sure mercies of God in Christ), shall be bestowed upon all his people.

4. CHRIST REIGNS (Act 13:33-34). Jesus Christ is King! He reigns as the Son of David, the Son of Man upon the throne of God to give eternal life, to dispense “the sure mercies of David” to chosen sinners (Joh 17:2).

5. CHRIST SAVES (Act 13:38-39). The gospel of the free grace of God in Christ is the message of redemption accomplished by the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God. It is the proclamation of the free forgiveness of sins and complete justification for all who believe upon the grounds of justice satisfied and righteousness imputed (1Jn 1:9; Rom 3:24-26).

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN (Act 13:40-41). “To you is the word of this salvation sent” (Act 13:26). It is the responsibility of all to believe it. If you do, if you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall live forever. If you refuse to believe, if you reject the gospel and despise the Son of God, unutterable woe shall be your eternal portion (Mar 16:16).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

am 4050, ad 46

Antioch: Act 14:19, Act 14:21-24

went: Act 13:5, Act 16:13, Act 17:2, Act 18:4, Act 19:8

Reciprocal: Mar 1:21 – he entered Luk 4:16 – and stood Luk 4:20 – and sat Act 9:2 – the synagogues Act 13:27 – which Act 14:24 – Pisidia Act 15:36 – in every Rom 15:19 – so that

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Act 13:14. Pisidia was another province in Asia Minor adjoining Pam-phylia, in which the present Antioch was situated. The Jews assembled in the synagogues on the sabbath day to hear the reading of the law, since copies of it were scarce and only a few people could possess it. The preachers went into it because it gave them an opportunity to speak to the people about the Gospel. It was the custom to invite persons in the audience to speak, after the reading service was completed.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 13:14. They came to Antioch in Pisidia. Antioch in Pisidia was one of the many Antiochs (see note on Act 13:4) built by Seleucus Nicator, about 350 years before the visit of Paul and Barnabas. It was a city of considerable importance, and a Roman colony (on the meaning of colony, see note on chap. Act 16:12). Vast ruins of the once celebrated Pisidian capital were identified some forty years ago by an English traveller.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Act 13:14-15. When they departed from Perga Proceeding in the prosecution of their important work; they came to Antioch in Pisidia A country to the north of Pamphylia; and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, (Paul making it a point in every place first to offer salvation to the Jews,) and sat down Among those that were worshipping there. And after the reading of the law and the prophets The law was read over once every year, a portion of it being appointed for each sabbath; to which was added a lesson taken out of the prophets; the rulers of the synagogue Having probably some knowledge of the public character which the two celebrated strangers sustained, and being curious to hear from their own mouth that new doctrine which had made so much noise in other places; sent unto them, saying, If ye have any word of exhortation for the people Any declaration to make which may conduce to their edification; say on As this is the proper season for doing it. According to the Jewish writers, (see Maimonides on the Talmud,) after public worship was over, any one might make a speech to the people in the synagogue, on any subject which he apprehended might be for their advantage: this, it seems, however, was seldom done without the permission of the rulers, which was thus given to Paul and Barnabas.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

14, 15. Luke does not longer to recount the dangers through which the two travelers may have passed in crossing the mountains, but describes their progress in these few words: (14) “But they, having departed from Perga, arrived in Antioch of Pisidia, and entering into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, they sat down. (15) And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, and said, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” This is a very life-like description of the order of worship in a Jewish synagogue, and of the readiness with which the apostles gained access to the ears of their Jewish kinsmen upon their first advent in a new field of labor. The direct invitation given them to address the people was doubtless prompted by some vague knowledge of their characters as public speakers, furnished, perhaps, by themselves.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

14. They now go on south into Antioch of Pisidia.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 14

Antioch in Pisidia; thus distinguished from Antioch in Syria, where Paul and Barnabas had been commissioned for their work.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in {g} Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

(g) This distinguishes between it, and Antioch which was in Syria.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Ministry in Antioch of Pisidia 13:14-52

Paul and Barnabas proceeded north from the coast about 100 miles to Antioch of Pisidia. The road took them from sea level to 3,600 feet elevation through bandit-infested country. [Note: Blaiklock, p. 105.] They arrived on a lake-filled plateau. Paul later wrote to the Galatians that he had preached the gospel to them at first because of a weakness of the flesh (Gal 4:13). This seems to indicate that Paul was not in good health when he ministered in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Many commentators followed the theory of William Ramsay, who argued that Paul suffered from malaria, which he contracted on the lowlands of Perga. [Note: William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, p. 93.] Antioch of Pisidia was a Roman colony, as were Lystra, Troas, Philippi, and Corinth. Roman colonies stood at strategic places in the empire along frequently travelled roads. As such, Antioch would have been a good place to plant a church. The Via Sebaste, the Roman road that ran from Ephesus to the Euphrates River, passed through this Antioch.

"Antioch was the most important city of southern Galatia and included within its population a rich amalgam of Greek, Roman, Oriental, and Phrygian traditions. Acts tells us that it also had a sizeable Jewish population." [Note: Longenecker, pp. 422-23.]

"In bringing the gospel to Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas were planting Christianity in the communication nerve center and heart of Asia Minor." [Note: Merrill F. Unger, "Pisidian Antioch and Gospel Penetration of the Greek World," Bibliotheca Sacra 118:469 (January-March 1961):48.]

People referred to this town as Pisidian Antioch (Antioch of Pisidia) because it was close to the geographical region of Pisidia, though its site was in the geographical region of Phrygia. They called it Antioch of Pisidia to distinguish it from another Antioch in Phrygia.

"It was founded by Seleucus I Nicator about 281 B.C. as one of the sixteen cities he named in honor of either his father or his son, both of whom bore the name Antiochus." [Note: Longenecker, p. 422.]

This town was in the Roman province of Galatia and was the chief military and political center in the southern part of the Galatian province. [Note: See Ramsay, St. Paul . . ., p. 92.] Luke recorded that the missionaries had contact with seven different types of people here: synagogue officials, Jews, proselytes, God-fearers, devout women of high standing, Gentiles, and leading men of the city. They reached all levels of society.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The visit to the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia 13:14-15

Paul and Barnabas attended the Sabbath service in a local synagogue.

"In the Hellenistic and Roman periods Asia Minor had a substantial Jewish population. . . .

"The massive influx of a Jewish population into Asia Minor took place at the end of the third century BC, when Antiochus III settled two thousand Jewish families from Mesopotamia and Babylonia in Lydia and Phrygia, in order to maintain the security of his hold over this region." [Note: Levinskaya, p. 138.]

Normally the synagogue service began with the Shema ("Hear, O Israel, . . .") and the Shemoneh Esreh (a liturgy of benedictions, blessings, and prayers). Then leaders would read two passages from the Old Testament aloud, one from the Mosaic Law and a related section from the Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible. Then some competent person whom the synagogue rulers designated would give an address. The service would conclude with a benediction. On this occasion the synagogue leaders, who were local Jewish laymen, invited Paul and Barnabas to give an address if they had some encouraging word to share.

Paul initiated his typical pattern of ministry in Antioch of Pisidia. In every town with a sizable Jewish population that he visited, except Athens, according to Luke, the apostle first preached in the synagogue to Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. When the Jews refused to listen further, he then went to Gentiles directly with the gospel. Evidently Paul went to the synagogues first because his audience there had a theological background that made it easier for them to understand and believe the gospel.

"There was, of course, a practical matter involved. If they had begun evangelizing among gentiles first, the synagogue would have been closed to them." [Note: Kent, p. 115.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 9

ST. PAULS ORDINATION AND FIRST MISSIONARY TOUR.

Act 13:2-4; Act 13:14; Act 14:1; Act 14:26

We have now arrived at what we might call the watershed of the Acts of the Apostles. Hitherto we have had very various scenes, characters, personages to consider. Henceforth St. Paul, his labours, his disputes, his speeches, occupy the entire field, and every other name that is introduced into the narrative plays a very subordinate part. This is only natural. St. Luke knew of the earlier history by information gained from various persons, but he knew of the later history, and specially of St. Pauls journeys, by personal experience. He could say that he had formed a portion and played no small part in the work of which he was telling, and therefore St. Pauls activity naturally supplies the chief subject of his narrative. St. Luke in this respect was exactly like ourselves. What we take an active part in, where our own powers are specially called into operation, there our interest is specially aroused. St. Luke personally knew of St. Pauls missionary journeys and labours, and therefore when telling Theophilus of the history of the Church down to the year 60 or thereabouts, he deals with that part of it which he specially knows. This limitation of St. Lukes vision limits also our range of exposition. The earlier portion of the Acts is much richer from an expositors point of view, comprises more typical narratives, scenes, events than the latter portion, though this latter portion may be richer in points of contact, historical and geographical, with the world of life and action.

It is with an expositor or preacher exactly the opposite as with the Church historian or biographer of St. Paul. A writer gifted with the exuberant imagination, the minute knowledge of a Renan or a Farrar naturally finds in the details of travel with which the latter portion of the Acts is crowded matter for abundant discussion. He can pour forth the treasures of information which modern archaeological research has furnished, shedding light upon the movements of the Apostle. But with the preacher or expositor it is otherwise. There are numerous incidents which lend themselves to his purpose in the journeys recorded in this latter portion of the book; but while a preacher might find endless subjects for spiritual exposition in the conversion of St. Paul or the martyrdom of St. Stephen, he finds himself confined to historical and geographical discussions in large portions of the story dealing with St. Pauls journeys. We shall, however, strive to unite both functions, and while endeavouring to treat the history from an expositors point of view, we shall not overlook details of another type which will impart colour and interest to the exposition.

I. The thirteenth chapter of the Acts records the opening of St. Pauls official missionary labours, and its earliest verses tell us of the formal separation or consecration for that work which St. Paul received. Now the question may here be raised, Why did St. Paul receive such a solemn ordination as that we here read of? Had he not been called by Christ immediately? Had he not been designated to the work in Gentile lands by the voice of the same Jesus Christ speaking to Ananias at Damascus and afterward to Paul himself in the Temple at Jerusalem? What was the necessity for such a solemn external imposition of hands as that here recorded? John Calvin, in his commentary on this passage, offers a very good suggestion, and shows that he was able to throw himself back into the feelings and ideas of the times far better than many a modern-writer. Calvin thinks that this revelation of the Holy Ghost and this ordination by the hands of the Antiochene prophets were absolutely necessary to complete the work begun by St. Peter at Caesarea, and for this reason. The prejudices of the Jewish Christians against their Gentile brethren were so strong, that they would regard the vision at Joppa as applying, not as a general rule, but as a mere personal matter, authorising the reception of Cornelius and his party alone. They would not see nor understand that it authorised the active evangelisation of the Gentile world and the prosecution of aggressive Christian efforts among the heathen. The Holy Ghost therefore, as the abiding and guiding power in the Church, and expressing His will through the agency of the prophets then present, said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”; and that work to which they were expressly sent forth by the Holy Ghost was the work of aggressive effort beginning with the Jews-but not terminating with them-and including the Gentiles. This seems to me thoroughly true, and shows how Calvin realised the intellectual weakness, the spiritual hardness of heart and slowness of judgment which prevailed among the apostles. The battle of Christian freedom and catholic truth was not won in a moment. Old prejudices did not depart in an hour. New principles were not assimilated and applied in a few days. Those who hold nobler views and higher principles than the crowd must not be surprised or dismayed if they find that year after year they have to fight the same battles and to proclaim the same fundamental truths and to maintain what may seem at times even a losing conflict with the forces of unreasoning prejudices. If this was the case in the primitive Church with all its unity and love and spiritual gifts, we may well expect the same state of affairs in the Church of our time.

An illustration borrowed from Church history will explain this. Nothing can well be more completely contrary to the spirit of Christianity than religious persecution. Nothing can be imagined more completely consonant with the spirit of the Christian religion than freedom of conscience. Yet how hard has been the struggle for it! The early Christians suffered in defence of religious freedom, but they had no sooner gained the battle than they adopted the very principle against which they had fought. They became religiously intolerant, because religious intolerance was part and parcel of the Roman state under which they had been reared. The Reformation again was a battle for religious freedom. If it were not, the Reformers who suffered in it would have no more claim to our compassion and sympathy on account of the deaths they suffered than soldiers who die in battle. A soldier merely suffers what he is prepared to inflict, and so it was with the martyrs of the Reformation unless theirs was a struggle for religious freedom. Yet no sooner had the battle of the Reformation been won than all the Reformed Churches adopted the very principle which had striven to crush themselves. It is terribly difficult to emancipate ourselves from the influence and ideas of bygone ages, and so it was with the Jewish Christians. They could not bring themselves to adopt missionary work among the Gentiles. They believed indeed intellectually that God had granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life, but that belief was not accompanied with any of the enthusiasm which alone lends life and power to mental conceptions. The Holy Ghost therefore, as the Paraclete, the loving Comforter, Exhorter, and Guide of the Church, interposes afresh, and by a new revelation ordains apostles whose great work shall consist in preaching to the Gentile world.

There seems to me one great reason for the prominent place this incident at Antioch holds. The work of Gentile conversion proceeded from Antioch, which may therefore well be regarded as the mother Church of Gentile Christendom; and the Apostles of the Gentiles were there solemnly set apart and constituted. Barnabas and Saul were not previously called apostles. Henceforth this title is expressly applied to them, and independent apostolic action is taken by them. But there seems to me another reason why Barnabas and Saul were thus solemnly set apart, notwithstanding all their previous gifts and callings and history. The Holy Ghost wished to lay down at the very beginning of the Gentile Church the law of orderly development, the rule of external ordination, and the necessity for its perpetual observance. And therefore He issued His mandate for their visible separation to the work of evangelisation. All the circumstances too are typical. The Church was engaged in a season of special devotion when the Holy Ghost spoke. A special blessing was vouchsafed, as before at Pentecost, when the people of God were specially waiting upon Him. The Church at Antioch as represented by its leading teachers were fasting and praying and ministering to the Lord when the Divine mandate was issued, and then they fasted and prayed again. The ordination of the first apostles to the Gentiles was accompanied by special prayer and by fasting, and the Church took good care afterwards to follow closely this primitive example. The institution of the four Ember seasons as times for solemn ordinations is derived from this incident. The Ember seasons are periods for solemn prayer and fasting, not only for those about to be ordained, but also for the whole Church, because she recognises that the whole body of Christs people are interested most deeply and vitally in the nature and character of the Christian ministry. If the members of that ministry are devoted, earnest, inspired with Divine love, then indeed the work of Christ flourishes in the Church, while, if the ministry of God be careless and unspiritual, the people of God suffer terrible injury. And we observe, further, that not only the Church subsequent to the apostolic age followed this example at Antioch, but St. Paul himself followed it and prescribed it to his disciples. He ordained elders in every Church, and that from the beginning. He acted thus on his very first missionary journey, ordaining by the imposition of hands accompanied with prayer and fasting, as we learn from the fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse {Act 14:21}. He reminded Timothy of the gift imparted to that youthful evangelist by the imposition of St. Pauls own hands, as well as by those of the presbytery; and yet he does not hesitate to designate the elders of Ephesus and Miletus who were thus ordained by St. Paul as bishops set over Gods flock by the Holy Ghost Himself. St. Paul and the Apostolic Church, in fact, looked behind this visible scene. They realised vividly the truth of Christs promise about the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church. They took no miserably low and Erastian views of the sacred ministry, as if it were an office of mere human order and appointment. They viewed it as a supernatural and Divine office, which no mere human power, no matter how exalted, could confer. They realised the human instruments indeed in their true position as nothing but instruments, powerless in themselves, and mighty only through God, and therefore St. Paul regarded his own ordination of the elders whom he appointed at Derbe, Iconium, Lystra, or Ephesus as a separation by the Holy Ghost to their Divine offices. The Church was, in fact, then instinct with life and spiritual vigour, because it thankfully recognised the present power, the living force and vigour of the third person of the Holy Trinity.

II. The Apostles, having been thus commissioned, lost no time. They at once departed upon their great work. And now let us briefly indicate the scope of the first great missionary tour undertaken by St. Paul, and sketch its outline, filling in the details afterwards. According to early tradition the headquarters of the Antiochene Church were in Singon Street, in the southern quarter of Antioch. After earnest and prolonged religious services they left their Christian brethren. St. Pauls own practice recorded at Ephesus, Miletus, and at Tyre shows us that prayer marked such separation from the Christian brethren, and we know that the same practice was perpetuated in the early Church; Tertullian, for instance, telling us that a brother should not leave a Christian house until he had been commended to Gods keeping. They then crossed the bridge, and proceeded along the northern bank of the Orontes to Seleucia, the port of Antioch, where the ruins still testify to the vastness of the architectural conceptions cherished by the Syrian kings. From Seleucia the apostles sailed to the island of Cyprus, whose peaks they could see eighty miles distant, shining bright and clear through the pellucid air. Various circumstances would lead them thither. Barnabas was of Cyprus, and he doubtless had many friends there. Cyprus had then an immense Jewish population, as we have already pointed out; and though the apostles were specially designated for work among the Gentiles, they ever made the Jews the starting-point whence to influence the outside world, always used them as the lever whereby to move the stolid mass of paganism. The apostles showed a wholesome example to all missionaries and to all teachers by this method of action. They addressed the Jews first because they had most in common with them. And St. Paul deliberately and of set purpose worked on this principle, whether with Jews or Gentiles. He sought out the ideas or the ground common to himself and his hearers, and then, having found the points on which they agreed, he worked out from them. It is the true method of controversy. I have seen the opposite course adopted, and with very disastrous effects. I have seen a method of controversial argument pursued, consisting simply in attacks upon errors without any attempt to follow the apostolic example and discover the truths which both parties held in common, and the result has been the very natural one that ill-will and bad feeling have been aroused without effecting any changes in conviction. We can easily understand the reason of this, if we consider how the matter would stand with ourselves. If a man comes up to us, and without any attempt to discover our ideas or enter into sympathetic relations with us, makes a very aggressive assault upon all our particular notions and practices, our backs are at once put up, we are thrown into a defensive mood, our pride is stirred, we resent the tone, the air of the aggressor, and unconsciously determine not to be convinced by him. Controversial preaching of that class, hard, unloving, censorious, never does any permanent good, but rather strengthens and confirms the person against whose belief it is directed. Nothing of this kind will ever be found in the wise, courteous teaching of the apostle Paul, whose few recorded speeches to Jews and Gentiles may be commended to the careful study of all teachers at home or abroad as models of mission preaching, being at once prudent and loving, faithful and courageous.

From Seleucia the apostles itinerated through the whole island unto Paphos, celebrated in classical antiquity as the favourite seat of the goddess Venus, where they came for the first time into contact with a great Roman official, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of the island. From Paphos they sailed across to the mainland of Asia Minor, landed at Perga, where John Mark abandoned the work to which he had put his hand. They do not seem to have stayed for long at Perga. They doubtless declared their message at the local synagogue to the Jews and proselytes who assembled there, for we are not to conclude, because a synagogue is not expressly mentioned as belonging to any special town, that therefore it did not exist. Modern discoveries have shown that Jewish synagogues were found in every considerable town or city of Asia Minor, preparing the way by their pure morality and monotheistic teaching for the fuller and richer truths of Christianity. But St. Paul had fixed his eagle gaze upon Antioch of Pisidia, a town which had been made by Augustus Caesar the great centre of this part of Asia Minor, whence military roads radiated in every direction, lending thereby the assistance of imperial organisation to the progress of the gospel. Its situation was, in fact, the circumstance which determined the original foundation of Antioch by the Syrian princes.

Facility of access, commercial convenience were points at which they chiefly aimed in selecting the sites of the cities they built, and the wisdom of their choice in the case of Antioch in Pisidia was confirmed when Augustus and Tiberius, some few years previous to St. Pauls visit, made Antioch the centre from which diverged the whole system of military roads throughout this portion of Asia Minor. It was a very large city, and its ruins and aqueducts testify to this day concerning the important position it held as the great centre of all the Roman colonies and fortresses which Augustus planted in the year B.C. 6 along the skirts of the Taurus Range to restrain the incursions of the rude mountaineers of Isauria and Pisidia. When persecution compelled the apostles to retire from Antioch they took their way therefore to Iconium, which was some sixty miles southeast of Antioch along one of those military roads of which we have spoken, constructed for the purpose of putting down the brigands which then, as in modern times, constituted one of the great plagues of Asia Minor. But why did the apostles retire to Iconium? Surely one might say, if the Jews had influence enough at Antioch to stir up the chief men of the city against the missionaries, they would have had influence enough to secure a warrant for their arrest in a neighbouring city. At first sight it seems somewhat difficult to account for the line of travel or flight adopted by the apostles. But a reference to ancient geography throws some light upon the problem. Strabo, a geographer of St. Pauls own day, tells us that Iconium was an independent principality or tetrarchy, surrounded indeed on all sides by Roman territory, but still enjoying a certain amount of independence. The apostles fled to Iconium when persecution waxed hot because they had a good road thither, and also because at Iconium they were secure from any legal molestation, being under a new jurisdiction.

After a time, however, the Jews from Antioch made their way to Iconium and began the same process which had proved so successful at Antioch. They first excited the members of the Jewish synagogue against the apostles, and through them influenced the townspeople at large, so that, though successful in winning converts, St. Paul and his companion were in danger of being stoned by a joint mob of Jews and Gentiles. They had therefore to fly a second time, and when doing so they acted on the same principle as before. They again removed themselves out of the local jurisdiction of their enemies, and passed to Derbe and Lystra, cities of Lycaonia, a Roman province which had just been formed by the Emperor Claudius.

Then after a time, when the disturbances which the Jews persistently raised wherever they came had subsided, the apostles turned back over the same ground, no longer indeed publicly preaching, but organising quietly and secretly the Churches which they had founded in the different towns through which they had passed, till they arrived back at Perga, Where perhaps, finding no ship sailing to Antioch, they travelled to the port of Attalia, where they succeeded in finding a passage to that city of Antioch whence they had been sent forth. This brief sketch will gave a general view of the first missionary tour made in the realms of paganism, and will show that it dealt with little more than two provinces of Asia Minor, Pisidia and Lycaonia, and was followed by what men would count but scanty results, the foundation and organisation of a few scattered Christian communities in some of the leading towns of these districts.

III. Let us now more particularly notice some of the details recorded concerning this journey. The apostles began their work at Cyprus, where they proclaimed the gospel in the Jewish synagogues. They were attracted as we have said to this island, first, because it was the native land of Barnabas, and then because its population was in large degree Jewish, owing to the possession of the famous copper mines of the island by Herod the Great. Synagogues were scattered all over the island and proselytes appertained to each synagogue, and thus a basis of operations was ready whence the gospel message might operate. It was just the same even at Paphos, where St. Paul came in contact with the proconsul Sergius Paulus. The Jewish element here again appears, though in more active opposition than seems to have been elsewhere offered. Sergius Paulus was a Roman citizen like Cornelius of Caesarea. He had become dissatisfied with the belief of his forefathers. He had now come into contact with the mystic East, and had yielded himself to the guidance of a man who professed the Jewish religion, which seems to have charmed by its pure morality and simple monotheism many of the noblest minds of that age. But, like all outsiders, Sergius Paulus did not make accurate and just distinctions between man and man. He yielded himself to the guidance of a man who traded on the name of a Jew, but who really practised those rites of weird sorcery which real Judaism utterly repudiated and denounced. This alone accounts for the stern language of St. Paul: “O full of all guile and all villainy, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” St. Paul never addressed a lawful opponent in this manner. He did not believe in the efficacy of strong language in itself, nor did he abuse those who withstood him in honest argument. But he did not hesitate, on the other hand, to brand a deceiver as he deserved, or to denounce in scathing terms those who were guilty of conscious fraud. St. Paul might well be taken as a model controversialist in this respect. He knew how to distinguish between the genuine opponent who might be mistaken but was certainly conscientious, and the fraudulent hypocrite devoid of all convictions save the conviction of the value of money. With the former St. Paul was full of courtesy, patience, consideration, because he had in himself experience of the power of blind unthinking prejudice. For the latter class St. Paul had no consideration, and with them he wasted no time. His honest soul took their measure at once. He denounced them as he did Elymas on this occasion, and then passed on to deal with nobler and purer souls, where honest and good hearts offered more promising soil for the reception of the Word of the Kingdom. Controversy of every kind is very trying to tongue and temper, but religious controversy such as that in which St. Paul spent his life is specially trying to the character. The subject is so important that it seems to excuse an over zeal and earnestness which terminates in bad temper and unwise language. And yet we sometimes cannot shrink from controversy, because conscience demands it on our part. When that happens to be the case, it will be well for us to exercise the most rigorous control over our feelings and our words; from time to time to realise by a momentary effort of introspection Christ hanging upon the cross and bearing for us the unworthy and unjust reproaches of mankind; for thus and thus only will pride be kept down and hot temper restrained and that great advantage for the truth secured which self-control always bestows upon its possessor.

There is an interesting illustration of the historic accuracy of St. Luke connected with the apostolic visit to Paphos and to Sergius Paulus the proconsul. Thrice over in the narrative of St. Luke, Sergius Paulus is called proconsul-first in the seventh verse of the thirteenth chapter, where Elymas the sorcerer is described thus, “who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding,” while again the same title of proconsul is applied to Sergius in the eighth and twelfth verses. This has been the cause of much misunderstanding and of no small reproach hurled against the sacred writer. Let us inquire into its justice and the facts of the case. The Roman provinces were divided into two classes, senatorial and imperial. The senatorial provinces were ruled by proconsuls appointed by the Senate; the imperial by pro-praetors appointed by the emperors. This arrangement was made by Augustus Caesar, and is reported to us by Strabo, who lived and wrote during St. Pauls early manhood. But now a difficulty arises. Strabo gives us the list of the provinces senatorial and imperial alike, and expressly classes Cyprus amongst the imperial provinces, which were ruled by propraetors and not by proconsuls. In the opinion of the older critics, St. Luke was thus plainly convicted of a mistake and of a flagrant contradiction of that great authority the geographer Strabo. But it is never safe to jump to conclusions of that kind with respect to a contemporaneous writer who has proved himself accurate on other occasions. It is far better and far safer to say, Let us wait a while, and see what further investigations will reveal. And so it has proved in this special case. Strabo tells us of the original arrangement made about thirty years B.C. between the Emperor Augustus and the Senate, when Cyprus was most certainly numbered amongst the imperial provinces; but he omits to tell us what another historian of the same century, Dion Cassius, does relate, that the same Emperor modified this arrangement five years later, handing Cyprus and Gallia Narbo-nensis over to the rule of the Senate, so that from that date and henceforth throughout the first century of our era Cyprus was governed by proconsuls alone, as St. Luke most accurately, though only incidentally, reports. Here, too the results of modern investigation among inscriptions and coins have come in to supplement and support the testimony of historians. The Greek inscriptions discovered prior to and during the earlier half of this century have been collected together in Boeckhs “Corpus of Greek Inscriptions,” which is, indeed, a vast repertory of original documents concerning the life, Pagan and Christian, of the Greek world. In the inscriptions numbered 2631 and 2632 in that valuable work we have the names of Q. Julius Cordus and L. Annius Bassus expressly mentioned as proconsuls of Cyprus in A.D. 51, 52; while on coins of Cyprus have been found the names of Cominius Proclus and Quadratus, who held the same office. But the very latest investigations have borne striking testimony to the same fact. The name of the very proconsul whom St. Paul addressed appears on an inscription discovered in our own time. Cyprus has been thoroughly investigated since it passed into British hands, specially by General Cesnola, who has written a work on the subject which is well worth reading by those who take an interest in Scripture lands and the scenes where the apostles laboured. In that work, p. 425, Cesnola tells us of a mutilated inscription which he recovered dealing with some subject of no special importance, but bearing the following precious notice giving its date as “Under Paulus the Proconsul”; proving to us by contemporary evidence that Sergius Paulus ruled the island, and ruled it with the special title of proconsul. Surely an instance like this-and we shall have several such to notice-is quite enough to make fair minds suspend their judgment when charges of inaccuracy are alleged against St. Luke dependent upon our own ignorance alone of the entire facts of the case. A wider knowledge, a larger investigation we may well be sure will suffice to clear the difficulty and vindicate the fair fame of the sacred historian.

From Cyprus the apostles passed over to the continent, and opened their missionary work at Antioch of Pisidia, where the first, recorded address of St. Paul was delivered. This sermon, delivered in the Pisidian synagogue, is deserving of our special notice because it is the only missionary address delivered by St. Paul to the Jews of the Dispersion which has been handed down to us, unless we include the few words delivered to the Roman Jews reported in the twenty-eighth chapter from the seventeenth to the twenty-eighth verses. Let us briefly analyse it, premising that it should be carefully compared with the addresses of St. Peter to the Jews upon the Day of Pentecost and with the speech delivered by St. Stephen before the Sanhedrin, when all three will be found to run upon the same lines.

The apostles having reached Antioch waited until the Sabbath came round, and then sought the local meeting-place of the Jews. The apostles felt indeed that they were intrusted with a great mission important for the human race, but yet they knew right well that feverish impetuosity or restless activity was not the true way to advance the cause they had in hand. They did not believe in wild irregular actions which only stir up opposition. They were calm and dignified in their methods, because they were consciously guided by the Divine Spirit of Him concerning whom it was said in the days of His flesh, “He did not strive nor cry, neither did any man hear His voice in the streets.” On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue, and took their place on a bench set apart for the reception of those who were regarded as teachers. At the conclusion of the public worship and the reading of the lessons out of the law and the prophets, such as still are read in the synagogue worship, the Rulers of the Synagogue sent to them the minister or apostle of the synagogue, intimating their permission to address the assembled congregation, whereupon St. Paul arose and delivered an address, of which the following is an analysis. St. Paul opened his sermon by a reference to the lessons which had just been read in the service, which-as all the writers of the Apostles life, Lewin, Conybeare and Howson, and Archdeacon Farrar, agree-were taken from the first chapter of Deuteronomy and the first of Isaiah. He points out, as St. Stephen had done, the providential dealings of God with their forefathers from the time of the original choice of Abraham down to David. The Jews had been divinely guided throughout their history down to Davids days, and that Divine guidance had not then ceased, but continued down to the present, as the Apostle then proceeds to show. In Davids seed there had been left a hope for Israel Which every true Jew still cherished. He then announces that the long-cherished hope had now at last been fulfilled. This fact depended not on his testimony alone. The Messiah whom they had long expected had been preceded by a prophet whose reputation had spread into these distant regions, and had gained disciples, as we shall afterwards find, at Ephesus. John the Baptist had announced the Messiahs appearance, and proclaimed his own inferiority to Him. But then an objection occurs to the Apostle which might naturally be raised. If Johns reputation and doctrine had penetrated to Antioch, the story of the crucifixion of Jesus may also have been reported there, and the local Jews may therefore have concluded that such an ignominious death was conclusive against the claims of Jesus. The Apostle then proceeds to show how that the providential rule of God had been exercised even in that matter. The wrath of man had been compelled to praise God, and even while the rulers at Jerusalem were striving to crush Jesus Christ they were in reality fulfilling the voices of the prophets which went beforehand and proclaimed the sufferings of the Messiah exactly as they had happened. And further still, God had set His seal to the truth of the story by raising Jesus Christ from the dead according to the predictions of the Old Testament, which he expounds after the manner of the Jewish schools, finding a hint of the Resurrection of Christ in Isa 55:3 : “I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David”; and a still clearer one Psa 16:10 : “Thou wilt not give Thine Holy One to see corruption.” The Apostle, after quoting this text, which from its use by St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost seems to have been a passage commonly quoted in the Jewish controversy, terminates his discourse with a proclamation of the exalted blessings which the Messiah has brought, indicating briefly but clearly the universal character of the gospel promises, and finishing with a warning against stupid obstinate resistance drawn from Hab 1:5, which primarily referred to the disbelief in impending Chaldaean invasion exhibited by the Jews, but which the Apostle applies to the Jews of Antioch and their spiritual dangers arising from similar wilful obstinacy.

We have of course not much more than the heads of the apostolic sermon. Five or seven minutes of a not very rapid speaker would amply suffice to exhaust the exact words attributed to St. Paul. He must have enlarged on the various topics. He could not have introduced John the Baptist in the abrupt manner in which he is noticed in the text of our New Testament. It seems quite natural enough to us that he should be thus named, because John occupies a very high and exalted position in our mental horizon from our earliest childhood. But who was John the Baptist for these Jewish settlers in the Pisidian Antioch? He was simply a prophet of whom they may have heard a vague report, who appeared before Israel for a year or two, and then suffered death at the hands of Herod the Tetrarch: and so it must have been with many other topics introduced into this discourse.

They must have been much more copiously treated, elaborated, discussed, or else the audience in the Pisidian synagogue must have loved concentrated discourse more keenly than any other assembly that ever met together. And yet, though the real discourse must have been much longer-and did we only possess the sermon in its fulness many a difficulty which now puzzles us would disappear at once-we can still see the line of the apostolic argument and grasp its force. The Apostle argues, in fact, that God had chosen the original fathers of the Jewish race. He had gone on conferring ever fresh and larger blessings in the wilderness, in Canaan, under the Judges, and then under the Kings, till the time of David, from whose seed God had raised up the greatest gift of all in the person of Jesus Christ, through whom blessings unknown before and unsurpassed were offered to mankind. St. Paul contends exactly as St Stephen had done, that true religion has been a perpetual advance and development; that Christianity is not something distinct from Judaism, but is essentially one with it, being the flower of a plant which God Himself had planted, the crown and glory of the work which He had Himself begun. This address, as we have already noticed, will repay careful study; for it shows the methods adopted by the early Christian when dealing with the Jews. They did not attack any of their peculiar views or practices, but confining themselves to what they held in common strove to convince them that Christianity was the logical outcome of their own principles.

The results of this address were very indicative of the future. The Jews of the synagogue seem to have been for a time impressed by St. Pauls words. Several of them, together with a number of the proselytes, attached themselves to him as his disciples, and were further instructed in the faith. The proselytes especially must have been attracted by the Apostles words. They were, like Cornelius, Proselytes of the Gate, who observed merely the seven precepts of Noah and renounced idolatry, but were not circumcised or subject to the restrictions and duties of the Jewish ritual. They must have welcomed tidings of a religion embodying all that which they venerated in the Jewish Law and yet devoid of its narrowness and disadvantages.

Next Sabbath the whole city was stirred with excitement, and then Jewish jealousy burst into a flame. They saw that their national distinctions and glory were in danger. They refused to listen or permit any further proclamation of what must have seemed to them a revolutionary teaching, disloyal to the traditions and existence of their religion and their nation. They used their influence therefore with the chief men of the city, exercising it through their wives, who were in many cases attracted by the Jewish worship, or who may have been themselves of Jewish birth, and the result was that the apostles were driven forth to preach in other cities of the same central region of Asia Minor. This was the first attack made by the Jews upon St. Paul in his mission journeys. He had already had experience of their hostility at Damascus and at Jerusalem, but this hostility was doubtless provoked by reason of their resentment at the apostasy to the Nazarene sect of their chosen champion. But here at Antioch we perceive the first symptom of that bitter hostility to St. Paul because of his catholic principles, his proclamation of salvation as open to all alike, Jew or Gentile, free from any burdensome or restrictive conditions, a hostility which we shall find persistently pursuing him, both within the Church, and still more without the Church at Iconium, at Lystra, at Thessalonica, at Corinth, and at Jerusalem. It would seem indeed as if the invention of the term “Christian” at Antioch marked a crisis in the history of the early Church. Henceforth St. Paul and his friends became the objects of keenest hatred, because the Jews had recognised that they taught a form of belief absolutely inconsistent with the Jewish faith as hitherto known; a hatred which seems, however, to have been limited to St. Paul and his Antiochene friends, for the temporising measures and the personal prejudices, the whole atmosphere, in fact, of the Jerusalem Church led the unbelieving Jews to make a broad distinction between the disciples at Jerusalem and the followers of St. Paul.

IV. So far we have dealt with St. Pauls address at Antioch as typical of his methods in dealing with the Jews, and their treatment of the Apostle as typical of that hostility which the Jews ever displayed to the earliest teachers of Christian truth, as witnessed not only by the New Testament, but also by the writings and histories of Justin Martyr, and of Polycarp of Smyrna, and of all the early apologists. But we are not left in this typical Church history without a specimen of St. Pauls earlier methods when dealing with the heathen. St. Paul, after his rejection at Antioch, escaped to Iconium, sixty miles distant, and thence, when Jewish persecution again waxed hot, betook himself to Lystra, some forty miles to the south. There the Apostle found himself in a new atmosphere and amid new surroundings. Antioch and Iconium had large Jewish populations, and were permeated with Jewish ideas. Lystra was a thoroughly Gentile town with only a very few Jewish inhabitants. The whole air of the place-its manners, customs, popular legends-was thoroughly pagan. This offered St. Paul a new field for his activity, of which he availed himself right diligently, finishing up his work with healing a lifelong cripple, a miracle which so impressed the mob of Lystra that they immediately cried out in the native speech of Lycaonia, “The gods are coming down to us in the likeness of men,” calling Barnabas Jupiter, on account of his lofty stature and more commanding appearance, and Paul Mercurius or Hermes, because of his more insignificant size and more copious eloquence. Here again we have, in our writers words, an incidental and even unconscious witness to the truth of our narrative. The cry of the men of Lystra, these rude barbarian people of the original inhabitants of the land, who, though they could understand Greek, naturally fell back on their native Lycaonian language to express their deeper feelings, -this cry, I say, refers to an ancient legend connected with their history, of which we find a lengthened account in the works of the poet Ovid. Jupiter attended by Mercury once descended to visit the earth and see how man was faring. Some scoffed at the deities, and were punished. Others received them, and were blessed accordingly. The wondrous work performed on the cripple naturally led the men of Lystra to think that the Divine Epiphany had been repeated. The colony of Lystra-for Lystra was a Roman colony-was devoted to the worship of Jupiter, in memory doubtless of this celebrated visit. A temple to Jupiter stood before and outside the gate of the city, as the temple of Diana stood outside the gate of Ephesus, lending sanctity and protection to the neighbouring town. The priest and the people act upon the spur of the moment. They bring victims and garlands prepared to offer sacrifice to the deities who, as they thought, had revisited their ancient haunts. They were approaching the house where the apostles were dwelling-perhaps that of Lois and Eunice and Timothy-when Paul sprang forward and delivered a short impassioned address deprecating the threatened adoration. Let us quote the address in order that we may see its full force: “Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you. good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways.. And yet He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” How very different St. Pauls words to the pagans are from those he addressed to the Jews and proselytes, believers in the true God and in the facts of revelation! He proves himself a born orator, able to adapt himself to different classes of hearers, and, grasping their special ideas and feelings, to suit his arguments to their various conditions. St. Pauls short address on this occasion may be compared with his speech to the men of Athens, and the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and the various apologies composed by the earliest advocates of Christianity during the second century. Take, for instance, the Apology of Aristides, of which we gave an account in the preface to the first Part of this commentary on the Acts. We shall find, when we examine it and compare it with the various passages of Scripture to which we have just referred, that all run upon exactly the same lines. They all appeal to the evidence of nature and of natural religion. They say not one word about Scripture concerning which their hearers know nothing. They are not like unwise Christian advocates among ourselves who think they can overthrow an infidel with a text out of Scripture, begging the question at issue, the very point to be decided being this, whether there is such a thing at all as Scripture. St. Paul does with the men of Lystra and the men of Athens what Aristides did when writing for the Emperor Hadrian, and what every wise missionary will still do with the heathen or the unbeliever whose salvation he is seeking. The Apostle takes up the ground that is common to himself and his hearers. He shows them the unworthiness of the conception they have formed of the Godhead. He appeals to the testimony of Gods works and to the interior witness of conscience prophesying perpetually in the secret tabernacle of mans heart, and thus appealing in Gods behalf to the eternal verities and evidences of nature exterior and interior to man, he vindicates the Divine authority, glorifies the Divine character, and restrains the capricious and ignorant folly of the men of Lystra.

Lastly, we find in this narrative two typical suggestions for the missionary activity of the Church in every age. The men of Lystra with marvellous facility soon changed their opinion concerning St. Paul. M. Renan has well pointed out that to the pagans of those times a miracle was no necessary proof of a Divine mission. It was just as easily a proof to them of a diabolical or magical power. The Jews, therefore, who followed St. Paul, had no difficulty in persuading the men of Lystra that this assailant of their hereditary deities was a mere charlatan, a clever trickster moved by wicked powers to lead them astray. Their character and reputation as Jews, worshippers of one God alone, would lend weight to this charge, and enable them the more easily to effect their purpose of killing St. Paul, in which they had failed at Antioch and Iconium. The fickle mob easily lent themselves to the purposes of the Jews, and having stoned St. Paul dragged his body outside the city walls, thinking him dead. A few faithful disciples followed the crowd, however. Perhaps, too, the eirenarch or local police authority with his subordinates had interfered, and the rioters, apprehensive of punishment for their disturbance of the peace, had retired. As the disciples stood around weeping for the loss they had sustained, the Apostle awoke from the swoon into which he had fallen, and was carried into the city by the faithful few, among whom doubtless were Timothy and his parents. Lystra, however, was no longer safe for St. Paul. He retired, therefore, some twenty miles to Derbe, where he continued for some time labouring with success, till the storm and the excitement had subsided at Lystra. Then he turned back over the same ground which he had already traversed, he might have pushed on along the great Eastern Road, nigh as Derbe was to the passes through the Taurus Range which led directly to Cilicia and Tarsus. He wished to go back indeed to Antioch. He had been a year or so absent on this first excursion into the vast fields of Gentile paganism. Wider and more extensive missions had now to be planned. The wisdom gained by personal experience had now to be utilised in consultation with the brethren. But still a work had to be done in Lycaonia and Pisidia if the results of his labours were not to be lost. He had quitted in great haste each town he had visited, forced out by persecution, and leaving the organisation of the Church incomplete. St. Paul came, like his Master, not merely to proclaim a doctrine: he came still more to found and organise a Divine society. He turns therefore back again along the route he had first taken, he does not preach in public, nor run any risks of raising riots anew. His work is now entirely of a character interior to the Church. He strengthens the disciples by his teaching, he points out that earthly trials and persecutions are marks of Gods love and favour rather than tokens of His wrath, he notes for them that it is needful “through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of God,” and above all he secures the permanence of his work by ordaining presbyters after the fashion of the Church at Antioch, with prayer and fasting and imposition of hands. This is one great typical lesson taught us here by St. Pauls return journey through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia. Preaching and evangelistic work are important; but pastoral work and Church consolidation and Church order are equally important, if any permanent fruits are to be garnered and preserved. And the other typical lesson is implied in the few words wherein the termination of his first great missionary journey is narrated. “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 fulfilled.”

Antioch was the centre whence Paul and Barnabas had issued forth to preach among the Gentiles, and to Antioch the apostles returned to cheer the Church with the narrative of their labours and successes, and to restore themselves and their exhausted powers with the sweetness of Christian fellowship, of brotherly love and kindness such as then flourished, as never before or since, amongst the children of men. Mission work such as St. Paul did on this great, tour is very exhausting, and it can always be best performed from a great centre. Mission work, evangelistic work of any kind, if it is to be successful, makes terrible demands on mans whole nature, physical, mental, spiritual, and bodily. The best restorative for that nature when so exhausted is conversation and intercourse with men of like minds, such as St. Paul found when, returning to Antioch, he cheered the hearts and encouraged the hopes of the Church by narrating the wonders he had seen done and the triumphs he had seen won through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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