The Gospel in Asia Minor
“Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. 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 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. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience,” etc. — Acts xiii. 13-52.
PAUL had already taken the lead in the interview with
JL Sergius; and he keeps it, now when the missionary company take leave of Cyprus, and make for the mainland of Asia Minor.
The immediate reason why Cyprus was chosen as the field of operation when the mission first started from Antioch, was probably the connection of Barnabas with that island as the place of his birth. Perhaps the journey northward to the province of Pamphylia now was in like manner due to the predominance which Paul had attained in the councils of the company. They sailed from Paphos, on the western shore of Cyprus, to the nearest point of the neighbouring continent. The landing-place was not, indeed, in Cilicia, Paul’s native province, but it was in the bordering territory, and must have been familiar to him in his youth.
“Paul and his company loosed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.” The great work is begun; the messengers run to and fro; knowledge of the Lord is increased. Eorth from Jerusalem the word has gone; and it will never be shut up within one nation again. The word has come to the world; the people who sat in darkness saw a great light.
These isles of Greece! — green spots that stud the bosom of the sea, and stud our memories too from childhood with romantic associations — we think of them as the early home of the arts, at a time when our country was the hunting-ground of “barbarians. These isles of Greece! — we remember with youth’s enthusiasm, that on the waters which surround them the battle of liberty was fought and won, when the small Greek communities broke the power of the Persian monarchy, as the country’s rocky shores broke the waves of the Mediterranean.
But on the page of Scripture a more entrancing scene is displayed. The feet of the men who publish salvation tread the isles of Greece, and touch the waters that lave its shores. These heralds proclaim to the nations peace with God through the one Mediator. The barque that bore the missionaries of the cross was buoyed up on the same waters that carried those classic navies which bore back the tide of invasion from their shores: but a greater than classic fleet is here; here a greater victory is won, and a more precious liberty achieved. If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed.
The apostle of the Gentiles is now fully under way. This is the beginning of his course; and what a course! No mere man has left his mark so deep and broad upon this world. No conqueror, ancient or modern, can be compared with this wandering Jew, either as to the magnitude or the beneficence of his influence on the character and history of the human race.
There is a tendency in our day to escape from some of the doctrines which Paul has clearly expressed and fully expounded in his epistles. These doctrines are by some persons disliked, and therefore disbelieved. In connection with this subject some indisputable facts should be carefully noted and remembered. These deep abstract doctrines which Paul taught — the doctrines of justification by faith and pardon through a sacrifice — communicated the impulse to the greatest practical life known to history. These were the impelling motives of the largest and most fruitful of human lives. It was by the proclamation and inculcation of these doctrines that the old things of human civilisation were swept away and all things were made new. In them lay the power that turned the world upside down. Those who nibble at the Pauline dogmas should take along with their criticisms the fact that these dogmas have in very deed put forth more power to mould the character and destinies of humanity than any or all other doctrines put together.
As soon as the missionary group reached the mainland, Mark left them, and returned to Jerusalem. We do not exactly know his reasons; but we know that Paul thought them insufficient, and publicly blamed the act. So much did he disapprove of Mark’s conduct at this time, that at a subsequent stage he refused to accept him as a companion, although that refusal implied separation from his beloved Barnabas. Possibly Mark may have been offended by the change that had silently been effected in the leadership of the expedition. When he left Antioch as the junior colleague, his uncle Barnabas was at its head; but when he left Paphos the whole group passed under the designation of “Paul and his company,” Barnabas himself was superior to such jealousy; but it does not follow that the younger evangelist altogether escaped the tinge.
Leaving Perga, on the coast, the two elder missionaries penetrated to Antioch in Pisidia — a much less important city than the Antioch from which the expedition sailed — and there opened their commission as preachers of Christ’s gospel. They modestly entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and sat down among the ordinary worshippers. The elders in charge conducted the usual service in the usual way, and then sent a message inviting the strangers to address the assembly.
Paul is the spokesman abroad, as Peter had been at home. Having been led to the proper place, he waved his hand as a token for silent attention, and proceeded with his address.
Following the method of Stephen, which he doubtless remembered well, he sought an entrance to the sanctuary of the gospel through the vestibule of venerated Hebrew history. When he had carried his sketch down to the time of David, he turned aside from the narrative and plunged into his main theme — presented David’s Son to the faith of David’s subjects.
At the close of the sermon, when the bulk of the congregation dispersed, a band of earnest inquirers, partly Jews, but for the most part Gentiles, remained with the missionaries — their appetites quickened, not satisfied by what they had heard. Pleasant excitement it must have been to these fishers for men when they felt many grasping and drawing. Puller explanation was given in private to all the inquirers, and a promise made, in answer to their eager request, that the same doctrines would be taught in the synagogue next Sabbath-day. I think those men of Antioch who remained after the sermon to converse with the ministers would have many thoughts and conversations on the subject during the week. When they came up to the house of God next Sabbath they were sure of the blessing; for the finding is, in the Lord’s promise, made sure to those who seek.
It is remarkable that Paul, though rejected by his own countrymen at Jerusalem, and sent out as the apostle of the Gentiles, yet uniformly addressed himself first to the Jews wherever he found them. He maintained the spirit of the Lord’s rule, when compliance with the letter was no longer possible, — “beginning at Jerusalem.” The Jews of the dispersion participated in the privilege: the first offer was always made to the seed of Abraham. In each case the gospel was presented to the heathen when it was rejected by the Jews.
When the Greek inhabitants of the city came out in mass to hear the gospel, the Jews were envious, and violently opposed the apostles. In his defence Paul quotes a promise (Isa. xl. 5; Luke ii. 32), calling it a command. It is eminently instructive to observe that when God promises light to the Gentiles, Christians understand the word as an order to themselves to spread the light in the dark places of the earth. When God proclaims that the thing shall be done, true disciples of Christ go forth to do it. They count the promise a command, and render themselves instruments of righteousness unto God. The result was, “the word of the Lord was published through all that region.” They rightly understood the Scripture, “Work, for it is God that worketh in you.”
Besides appealing to the civic authorities against the missionaries, the Jews, in their eagerness to obstruct the work, secretly enlisted the services of certain women, high in social position, and full of superstitious zeal, to counteract the effects of the preached word. This is an agency that has from the beginning been sought and used both for good and for evil. Women were employed by the Lord himself for certain appropriate ministries in the establishment of his kingdom. But false teachers have in all times availed themselves of the combined weakness and strength of the feminine nature for their own ends. They find in many women the religious element strong, and the faculty of judgment comparatively weak. By the weak side they enter in and take possession; when once in, they wield the strong side for their own purposes. The Romish hierarchy have always made much of female agency, and especially the agency of women in high social rank.
But as Christ himself employed their tenderness, and patience, and perseverance in his own cause, he has encouraged his disciples in all ages to go and do likewise. Let woman stand on her true foundation, the family; and forth from that citadel let her go to her daily task wherever the Lord hath need of her service: but back to the family let her ever return, as to her refuge and rest. Colonies of women, cut off from family relations and affections and duties, and bound by vows, are mischievous to themselves, and, notwithstanding superficial apparent advantages, in the long-run dangerous to the community. God made the family; man made the convent God’s work! behold, it is very good; man’s is in this case a snare.
The unbelieving Jews, through secret influence and public authority combined, succeeded in driving the missionaries away from Antioch. On their part, the missionaries, with the symbolic protest of shaking the dust from their feet, made the best of their way to Iconium, filled, as they fled, “with joy and with the Holy Ghost.”
It is not enough to say that they were joyful although they were persecuted; for they were joyful because they were persecuted. Suffering made them glad, because it was a distinct fulfilment of their Master’s word. He warned them that these troubles would overtake them for his name’s sake. Now that they have experience of cruel treatment at Antioch, they were convinced of two things, — that the Lord saw the end from the beginning, and that they are on the right way. The way was rough indeed, but its roughness was a mark by which they knew it to be right. It was a uniform experience, that wherever their word told, enemies rose up against them. Wherever they met with great success, there they met with great opposition. As soon as the door of opportunity opened, a crowd of adversaries rushed in. This was according to law. Where the heaviest blow is dealt against his kingdom, there the god of this world gathers all his forces for defence. When the ants’ hill is stirred, the busy little angry creatures rush out in crowds to the rescue.
In this passage we read of two distinct and opposite fillings. The Jews were filled with envy; the apostles with joy. These were tormented before the time by an evil spirit indwelling; those enjoyed a foretaste of heaven’s happiness in the Holy Spirit as a spirit of joy possessing their hearts.
Iconium, the place in which the missionaries next sought refuge and employment, was the nearest town to the east, and lying within the limits of another province. Though they had been persecuted at Antioch for preaching Christ there, the first thing they did when they reached Iconium was to preach Christ. The fire burned in their breasts, and they could not restrain it: woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!
They entered the synagogue as before, and preached to the congregation at the close of the usual service. A rumour regarding the extraordinary power of their preaching had preceded them, and accordingly a great miscellaneous crowd of Jews and Greeks were assembled to hear. Again the immediate result was the conversion of many, both Jews and Greeks. The high and. broad partition that divided these classes was giving way. That mountain had begun to flow down at the presence of the Lord.
“Once zv as I stoned!”