Produced by Al Haines
BIBLE STUDIES
IN THE LIFE OF PAUL
HISTORICAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE
BY
REV. HENRY T. SELL, D.D.
Author of "Supplemental Bible Studies," "Bible Study by Books,"
"Bible Study by Doctrines," "Bible Study by Periods,"
and "Bible Studies in the Life of Christ."
CHICAGO NEW YORK TORONTO
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
LONDON & EDINBURGH
COPYRIGHT, 1904
BY FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
Chicago: 63 Washington Street
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street
PREFACE
The book of Acts shows in a very graphic way the
rapid growth and marvelous progress of Christianity in
the midst of great opposition. We see in process of
fulfillment the promise of Jesus Christ to his disciples that
they should receive power after the Holy Ghost had come
upon them and that they should be witnesses unto Him
"both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and
unto the uttermost part of the earth." Those were
earnest times and full of stirring events, when men went forth
to conquer a hostile world not with swords, but by the
preaching of a gospel of peace and good will. As soon as
this proclamation was made in Judea and Samaria a new
instrument was chosen by Jesus Christ, in Paul, to carry
His message to the uttermost part of the earth. He
thus became at once the chief character in the larger work
of planting and developing churches outside of Palestine.
The study of Paul's life shows the difficulties encountered,
the doctrines taught, and the organization perfected in the
early churches. "We here watch the dawn of the gospel
which the Savior preached as it broadens gradually into
the boundless day."
Bible Studies in the Life of Paul is designed to follow
the author's Bible Studies in the Life of Christ and to
show the work of the Great Apostle in carrying the
gospel to a Gentile world. The aim is to present the work
of Paul in a constructive and historical way. While there
has been a careful consideration, on the part of the author,
of disputed questions, only conclusions upon which there
is a general agreement amongst scholars, and which can be
consistently held, are presented. The great main facts of
Paul's life and work stand forth unchallenged and the
emphasis is placed upon them. This book is divided into
three parts, Paul's preparation for his work, his missionary
journeys, and his writings. This is a text book, and,
with the analysis of each study and questions, is prepared
for the use of normal and advanced Sunday-school classes,
teachers' meetings, schools, colleges, and private study.
This is the sixth book of the kind which the author has
prepared and sent forth. The large favor with which the
other books have been received, and the desire, first of all,
of making the life and work of Paul even better known,
have been the motives which have led to its preparation.
CHICAGO, ILL.
HENRY T. SELL.
CONTENTS
I. PAUL'S PREPARATION
STUDY
I. Early Life
II. Conversion
II. PAUL'S JOURNEYS
III. First Missionary Journey
IV. Second Missionary Journey
V. Third Missionary Journey
VI. Jerusalem to Rome
III. PAUL'S WRITINGS
VII. The Future of Christ's Kingdom
VIII. The Old Faiths and the New
IX. The Supremacy of Christ
X. Pastoral and Personal
I. PAUL'S PREPARATION
STUDY I
EARLY LIFE
ANALYSIS
+The Place of Paul+--The Man. The Work of the Apostle. The
Leading Thought.
+Birth+--Place. Time. Family.
+Training+--Home. Mental, Moral and Religious. Industrial.
+The World as Paul Saw It+--The World. Political. Religious.
The Difficulties.
Bible Studies in the Life of Paul
I. PAUL'S PREPARATION
STUDY I
EARLY LIFE
THE PLACE OF PAUL
+The Man, Paul,+ judged by the influence he has
exerted in the world, is one of the greatest characters in
all history. He is pre-eminent not only as a missionary,
but as a marvelous thinker and writer. "He was
a personality of vast power, force, and individuality." There
are some men who seem to be born and prepared
to do a large work for the world; Paul makes the impression
upon those who carefully read the record of his life
that he stands first in this class of men.
+The Work of the Apostle.+--As John the Baptist
preceded Christ and prepared the way for His coming, so
Paul succeeded Christ and went throughout the heathen
world proclaiming that the Christ had come, and calling
upon all men, Jews and Gentiles, to repent and accept
Him as their Lord and Savior. So wide was his work as
a missionary of the cross, and an interpreter of the Christ,
that a certain class of critics have sought to make him the
creator of Christianity, as we know it; a position which
Paul would be the first to repudiate. He sought of
himself, before he was apprehended by Christ on the way to
Damascus, to drive Christianity from the face of the
earth.
+The Leading Thought+ in Paul's mind, after his
conversion, was personal devotion to Christ; this was the
mainspring of every act. He said, "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me": (Gal. 2:20). "For me to live is Christ"
(Phil. 1:21). In his letters to the churches which he founded,
there are found no picturesque descriptions of cities or of
scenery; his one thought is to make known the Christ.
He says, writing to the Corinthian church, "and I,
brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. For I determined not to know anything among
you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1,
2). In the evangelization of the heathen world, for
which task he had been set apart by the Holy Spirit
(Acts 13:2) and which he had accepted with all his heart,
it is not only his leading, but his only thought to make
known Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
To miss this supreme purpose of Paul in the study of
his life is to miss its whole significance (Phil. 2:1-11;
Col. 1:12-20).
BIRTH
+Place.+--The world is interested in the birthplaces of
its great men. Some of these birthplaces are in doubt.
There is no doubt about the place in which Paul was
born. He says, in making a speech to the Jews, "I am
verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia" (Acts 22:3). This city was the capital of
Cilicia and was situated in the southeastern part of Asia
Minor. It was but a few miles from the coast and was
easily accessible from the Mediterranean sea by a navigable
river. A large commerce was controlled by the
merchants, on sea and on land. Tarsus, while one of three
university centers of the period, ranking with Athens and
Alexandria, was an exceedingly corrupt city. It was the
chief seat of "a special Baal worship of an imposing but
unspeakably degrading character."
+Time.+--The date of Paul's birth is nowhere recorded,
but from certain dates given in the Acts, from which we
reckon back, it is thought that he was born about the
same time as Jesus Christ.
+Family.+--We are left, in this matter, without any
uncertainty. Paul says, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee" (Acts 23:6). I was "circumcised the eighth
day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an
Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee"
(Phil. 3:5). Paul's father and mother were Jews
of the stricter sort. The expression which Paul uses, "An
Hebrew of the Hebrews" is very significant. The Jews
of the Dispersion were known at this time as Hebrews
and Hellenists. The Hebrews clung to the Hebrew
tongue and followed Hebrew customs. The Hellenists
spoke Greek by preference and adopted, more or less,
Greek views and civilization. Paul had a married sister
who lived in Jerusalem (Acts 23:16) and relatives in Rome
(Rom. 16:7, 11).
TRAINING
+Home.+--The instruction received in the home has often
more influence and is more lasting than any other. Paul
received the usual thorough training of the Jew boy
accentuated in his case, in all probability, by the open iniquity
which was daily practised in his native city. We never
hear him expressing any regret that he received such
thorough religious instruction at the hands of his parents.
+Mental, Moral, and Religious.+--Good teachers were
employed to instruct the boy, who was afterwards to make
such a mark in the world. After going through the
school, under the care of the synagogue at Tarsus, he
was sent to Jerusalem to complete his education. Paul,
speaking in this chief Jewish city, says, I was "brought
up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught
according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers"
(Acts 22:3). It is very evident that He had a profound
knowledge of the Scriptures from the large use he makes
of them in his Epistles. He seems also to have been
quite well acquainted with Greek philosophy and
literature. He quotes from the Greek poets, Aratus,
Epimenides, and Menander. No man ever studied men and the
motives which actuate them more than he. His inward
life was pure (Acts 23:1; 24:16). Paul differed from
Christ in that he was a man who sought the cities and
drew his illustrations from them, while Christ was much
in the country and drew his illustrations from country life.
But in this study of and work for the city Paul was but
carrying out the commands of Christ.
+Industrial.+--It was required of every Jew father that
his boy should learn some trade by which he might
support himself should necessity require it. It was a
common Jewish proverb that "he who taught his son no trade
taught him to be a thief." Paul was taught the trade of
tent making. "The hair of the Cicilian goats was used
to make a cloth which was especially adapted for tents for
travelers, merchants, and soldiers." He afterwards
found this trade very useful in his missionary work
(Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Cor. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8).
THE WORLD AS PAUL SAW IT
+This World+ was very different from the world as we
see it to-day. This makes it difficult for us to appreciate
his work at its full value. Now, Christianity is the great
religion of the world; then it was unknown, outside a very
limited circle of believers. The state and society were
organized upon a different basis and were in strong
opposition to the new religion.
+Political.+--The world was under the dominion of the
Romans. They, in conquering it, broke down the
barriers that had separated tribe from tribe and nation from
nation. Yet it was a comparatively small world for all
interests centered about the Mediterranean Sea. Before
the Romans the Greeks had been in possession of a part
of this world and had permeated and penetrated the whole
of it, with their art, language, and commerce. With the
upheavals of war and the tribulations that had befallen
the Jews, they were everywhere scattered abroad and had
their synagogues in most of the cities.
+Religious.+--For the Romans, Greeks, and conquered
nations and tribes, it was an age of scepticism. While the
gods and goddesses in the great heathen temples still had
their rites and ceremonies observed yet the people, to a
large degree, had ceased to believe in them. The Roman
writers of the period are agreed in the slackening of
religious ties and of moral restraints. Yet it was the policy
of the state to maintain the worship of the gods and
goddesses. Any attack upon them or their worship was
regarded as an offense against the state.
+The Difficulties+ of the situation were threefold: (a)
To seek to overturn the religion of the state constituted
an offense which was punishable by stripes and imprisonment;
(b) To rebuke men's sins and the evils of the times
stirred up bitter opposition on their part; (c) To proclaim
a crucified and risen Christ as the Messiah to the Jews,
when they expected a great conquering hero, often excited
and put them in a rage.
That Paul could preach Christ and establish churches,
under all the opposition that he encountered, shows how
fully and implicitly he believed in his Lord.
QUESTIONS
What impression has the man, Paul, made upon the world?
What was his work as an apostle? What his leading thought?
Where is the place of his birth? What can be said of his family?
How was he educated and trained, in the home, in school, and for
a trade? What was the political and religious condition of the
world as Paul saw it? What were the three difficulties in the way
of his work in preaching Christ?
I. PAUL'S PREPARATION
STUDY II
CONVERSION
ANALYSIS
+Paul the Persecutor+--Order of Events. The Inevitable Conflict.
Cruelty of the Persecutor.
+Conversion+--Cause. Effects (physical, mental and spiritual,
penalty, relief to the Christians, triumph of Christ, and estimates
of the results).
+Period of Waiting+--Retirement of Paul. Reasons. The Gospel
for the Gentiles. Paul Brought to Antioch.
I. PAUL'S PREPARATION
STUDY II
CONVERSION
PAUL, THE PERSECUTOR
+Order of Events.+--It seems to be quite evident, when
Paul finished his studies in Jerusalem, that he left the city
and engaged in work somewhere else, during the years
when John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching and
teaching. In all probability he did not return until after
the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
Paul first appears in the narrative of the Acts, under
the name of Saul, at the martyrdom of Stephen, where he
takes charge of the clothes of the witnesses (Acts
7:58, 59).
From the Ascension of Christ to the martyrdom of
Stephen is an important period in the history of the infant
church. On and after the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) the
apostles and followers of the risen Lord assumed a very
bold attitude. They did not hesitate to speak openly in
the temple (Acts 3:12-16) of the crime of putting "The
Prince of Life" to death and asserted that He was risen
from the dead. The priests and Sadducees strongly
objected to this kind of preaching (Acts 4), laid hands upon
the preachers, and put them in prison. When they were
examined the next day before (Acts 4:5-13) the Jewish
tribunal, the apostles spoke even more boldly of Jesus and
his resurrection and refused to be silenced (Acts 4:13-20,
33). Again an attempt was made to stop the preaching
of the apostles, but they refused to keep still (Acts
5:16-33). A remarkable prison deliverance by the "Angel
of the Lord" (Acts 5:19, 20) gave them great courage in
proclaiming "all the words of this life."
At this point Gamaliel (Acts 5:34-42) proposes in the
Jewish council a new policy, which was to let the followers
of Christ alone, arguing that then they would speedily
give up their preaching. This policy was adopted (Acts
5:40). But with the election of Stephen as a deacon
(Acts 6:1-8) the followers of Christ began to multiply
with great rapidity and it was soon seen that "the
let-alone policy" was a mistake (Acts 6:9-15). Persecution
again breaks out which results in the death of Stephen
(Acts 7), the bringing out of Saul as the arch persecutor,
and the scattering of the church (Acts 8:1-4).
+The Inevitable Conflict.+--Had the early Christians
been content to have proclaimed Jesus Christ to be but a
great teacher and prophet, they would in all probability
have become a Jewish sect and been speedily lost to sight.
But extraordinary claims were put forth that Jesus Christ
was the promised Messiah (Acts 2:25-40), the Son of
God (Acts 3:26), the Forgiver of sins (Acts 2:38; 5:31),
that He was risen from the dead (Acts 4:33), that
obedience to Him was above that to the Jewish rulers (Acts
4:18-20), that the Jews had wickedly slain Christ (Acts
3:14, 15), and that salvation was only through Him
(Acts 4:12). Further than this they wrought miracles in
the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:2-8, 16; 2:43; 5:12).
It was very soon plainly seen that Christianity could
keep no truce, and proposed to keep no truce, which
called in question or denied the supremacy of Christ.
+The Cruelty of the Persecutor.+--To a man of Paul's
temperament and zeal there could be no half way measures
in a case like this. He could not be content to bide his
time. Either the claims of Christ were true or false. If
false, then they were doing harm and His doctrine and
teaching must be eradicated at any cost. All the aggressive
forces of the Jews found a champion in this Saul of
Tarsus. Drastic measures were at once inaugurated.
There was to be no more temporizing. The cruelty and
thoroughness of the persecutor, in his work, are shown in
his instituting a house to house canvass seeking for the
Christians and sparing neither age nor sex (Acts 8:1, 3).
In the first persecutions the Jews had been content to
arrest and imprison those who publicly preached Christ,
but now the policy was changed and Christianity was to
be exterminated root and branch. All believers in Christ
were to be hunted out.
The character of Saul, the arch persecutor, is shown
in the characterization of him by Luke, when he
represented him as breathing out, "threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1).
CONVERSION
+Cause.+--The book of the Acts, opened at one place,
shows a fierce hater and persecutor of the Christians (8:3),
opened at another place it shows this same persecutor as
an ardent and enthusiastic preacher of the faith in Jesus
Christ (13:16-39) We seek for the cause of this
remarkable change. Luke tells us that Saul was on his way to
Damascus, seeking victims for his persecuting zeal, when
Jesus suddenly appeared to him and Saul was changed
from a persecutor to a believer in Christ (Acts 9:3-7).
The account is very brief. For an event which has had
such tremendous results, the narrator is very reticent; a
light from heaven, a voice speaking, and a person
declaring that He is Jesus. Paul gives us two accounts of his
conversion and how it took place (Acts 22:6-15;
26:12-18). The men who were with Paul saw a light
and heard a voice, but not what was said. It is
impossible to describe or exaggerate what took place in Paul's
mind in those brief moments while Jesus talked to him;
but his beliefs, and his whole life plan were radically
changed. It had been well if no explanation of this
conversion had been attempted and the great fact had been
left to stand as it does in the Acts. Attempts, however,
have been made to minimize the power of this conversion
and the marvelous and sudden change it wrought in the
character and life of Paul. Some critics seeking a natural,
rather than a supernatural, cause have attributed to Paul
certain compunctions of conscience and misgivings about
his persecution of the Christians, together with a hot day
and a certain temperament, which led him to have a
subjective experience, which he thought was real. But there
is no recorded evidence forthcoming that Paul ever had
any compunctions of conscience about persecuting the
Christians. Paul was an honest man to the very core of
his being; in the two accounts he gives us of this
conversion, and in incidental references to it, he never even
hints at any such state of mind. The expression used by
Jesus, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks"
(Acts 9-5), of which so much has been made, means no
more than that Saul's opposition and hard work against
the Christians (Acts 8:3; 9:1), would be of no avail. In
doing what he did Paul thought he was doing God's
service. Again the language which Paul uses and the
references which he makes to this appearance of Christ forbid
us to think that it was only a mere vision of Christ which
he saw. "He ranks it as the last of the appearances of
the risen Savior to His disciples and places it on the same
level as the appearances to Peter, to James, to the eleven,
and to the five hundred" (1 Cor. 15:1-8). In these
appearances Jesus had eaten with his disciples and been
touched by them (John 20:24-31; Luke 24:36-43),
appearing as a real being, according to the narrative.
"It was the appearance to Paul of the risen Lord,
which made him a Christian, gave him a gospel to preach,
and sent him forth as the apostle of the Gentiles."
The time of Paul's conversion was about 36 A.D.
+Effects.+--There is no question as to the very marked
results which followed the appearance of the risen Lord
to Saul on the way to Damascus.
1. Physical. He was smitten with blindness (Acts
9:8), and was without food for three days (Acts 9:9).
His sight was restored by Ananias at the command of the
Lord (Acts 9:15-18).
2. Mental and spiritual. His whole outlook upon life
and its significance was changed. He received baptism
and was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17). From
being a persecutor he became an enthusiastic witness for
Christ (Acts 9:20-22).
3. Penalty. The consequences of his former course
of action were visited upon him; for the Jews sought to
kill him and the disciples of Christ were at first afraid of
him (Acts 9:23-26). But Barnabas vouched for his
sincerity (Acts 9:27).
4. The relief to the Christians at Damascus, when
Saul was converted, was very great. They had looked
forward to his coming with dread.
5. The triumph of Christ. In Paul Christianity won
its most efficient missionary and, next to Christ, its
greatest thinker, preacher, and teacher.
6. The estimates of the results of this conversion of
Saul cannot be too large; they are world wide.
PERIOD OF WAITING
+Retirement of Paul.+--From the conversion of Paul
(Acts 9:3-7) to his call to the missionary work (Acts
13:2) is a period of about ten years. During this time
we have only incidental notices of him and what he was
doing. When we think of it there is nothing strange in
this retirement. It is the divine method, as in the case of
Moses, when a man is to do a very large work for God
that he should be well prepared for it. The chief
scripture notices of this period of retirement are found in
Acts 9:19-30; Gal. 1:15-24; (Acts 11:25-30; 12:25).
From these notices it is quite plain: (a) That Paul retired
into Arabia. (b) That he preached in Damascus and
Jerusalem, but was compelled to flee from both cities on
account of the persecutions of the Jews, who sought his
life. (c) That he went to Tarsus and "into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia." (d) That he came to Antioch, where
there was a great revival (Acts 11:25-30), at the
solicitation of Barnabas. Luke in his account (Acts 9:19-30)
does not mention the trip to Arabia spoken of by Paul in
his epistle to the Galatians (1:15-24). It must be
remembered however that each is writing from a
different point of view. Luke is a historian recording only the
most salient facts and passing over the mention of many
events. We see this in the compression in eight and a
half short chapters of the events of the three missionary
journeys. Paul writing to the Galatians is anxious to
establish the fact that he received his commission, as an
apostle, not from man, but from Christ himself (Gal. 1:1);
hence he enters more into details and we get from him the
inside view. The accounts of Luke and Paul if read
carefully, keeping in mind all the circumstances, are seen not
to be in any way antagonistic, but to supplement each other.
+Reasons.+--Many reasons have been given for the
retirement of Paul to Arabia, and what seems to be the
period of comparative inactivity that followed it.
1. Fierce opposition on the part of the Jews whenever
Paul attempted to preach, as in the cities of Damascus
and Jerusalem.
2. A preparation of mind and heart for his great
work. As a thinker he needed to look upon all sides of
the gospel, which he was afterwards to preach so
effectively to the Gentiles.
3. A careful rereading of the Old Testament. As a
Jew he had read the Scriptures in one way, now he reread
them seeing Christ there.
4. System of doctrine. He may at this time have
wrought out that magnificent system of Christian doctrine
which he afterwards presented to the churches in his
Epistles.
+The Gospel for the Gentiles.+--While Paul was waiting
for the call to his great missionary work there came a
new crisis in the history of the early church, and a new
era was inaugurated. In the tenth and eleventh chapters
of the book of Acts Luke tells us of the conversion of the
Gentile Cornelius, "a centurion of the band called the
Italian band" (Acts 10:1-8), and of the instructions given
to Peter to receive him (Acts 10:9-44).
Cornelius was the first Gentile convert and we note
here the beginning of the preaching of the gospel to the
Gentiles, which was to have such large results. "The
day of Pentecost, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the
call of Cornelius and the foundation of the Gentile church
at Antioch are, if we are to pick and choose amid the
events related by Luke, the turning points of the earliest
ecclesiastical history." How great and epoch making was
this new departure of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles,
and receiving them into the church, is shown in the
eleventh chapter of the Acts (11:1-18) where, when Peter
goes up to Jerusalem, he is put on the defensive and
compelled to explain why he received Cornelius into the
church. When however the matter was fully explained
the early disciples rejoiced over the fact that to the
Gentiles was granted by God repentance unto life (Acts 11:18).
+Paul Brought to Antioch+ by Barnabas, on account of
the revival that had broken out in that city, is another
step which he takes up to his work as the great missionary
to the Gentiles (Acts 11:25-26). It was here that the
disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). It
was from this city that Paul went forth on his missionary
journeys and it was here that he returned (Acts 13:1-3;
14:26; 15:24-41; 18:22; 18:23).
"Antioch was the capital of the Greek kingdom of
Syria, and afterwards the residence of the Roman
governor of the province. It was made a free city by Pompey
the Great, and contained an aqueduct, amphitheater,
baths, and colonnades. It was situated on the Orontes
about twenty miles from the mouth of the river. Its
sea-port was Seleucia. It was intimately connected with
apostolic Christianity. Here the first Gentile church was
formed" (Acts 11:20, 21).
QUESTIONS
Give the order of events which led to the persecution in
which Paul was so prominent. Why was the conflict between
Christianity and Judaism inevitable? What can be said of the
cruelty of Paul, the persecutor? Give the cause of Paul's
conversion. What were some of the effects? What can be said of the
period of waiting; the retirement of Paul? What are some of
the probable reasons for this retirement? What can be said about
the beginning of the gospel to the Gentiles? By whom was Paul
brought to Antioch and for what purpose? In what relation does
Antioch stand to the missionary journeys of Paul?
II. PAUL'S JOURNEYS
_Acts 13:1-28:31_
STUDY III
FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY
_Scripture, Acts 13:1-14:26_
ANALYSIS
+Introduction to the Three Missionary Journeys+--The call. The
Significance. Extent and Time. The Record. Other Long
Journeys. Method of Work and Support. The Message.
+The First Journey+--Preparation. Companions. Paul Comes to
the Front. Time and Extent. Rulers.
+The Itinerary+--Salamis. Paphos. Perga. Antioch. Iconium.
Lystra and Derbe. The Return Journey.
+The Jerusalem Council+--One Problem of the Early Church. The
Decision of the Council.
[Illustration: Outline map illustrating the first and second
missionary journeys of Paul.]
II. PAUL'S JOURNEYS
_Acts 13:1-38:31_
STUDY III
FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY
_Scripture, Acts 13:1-14:26_
INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
Before taking up the study of the first missionary
journey, attention is called to certain points which should be
considered in regard to all three of them (Acts 13:1-21:17).
We have now arrived at what we might call the watershed
of the Acts of the Apostles. Hitherto we have had
various scenes, characters, personages to consider.
Henceforth Paul, his labors, his disputes, his speeches, occupy
the entire field, and every other man who is introduced
into the narrative plays a subordinate part.
Our attention is now turned from the Jewish world,
considered so largely in the first twelve chapters of the
Acts, to the heathen world and the struggle which Paul
and his fellow laborers had with it, in bringing it to Christ.
+The Call+ to this work was by the Holy Ghost in the
city of Antioch (Acts 13:1-4). Luke says, "As they
ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them" (Acts 13:2, 4). Contrast this with
the beginning of the work in Jerusalem which was also
inaugurated by the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost
(Acts 1:14; 2:1-4). This call was in accordance with
what Jesus had told his disciples before His ascension
(Acts 1:8).
The agency of the Holy Ghost in directing and
promoting this missionary work is very manifest (Acts
13:2, 4, 9, 52; 15:8, 28; 16:6; 19:2, 6; 20:23, 28;
21:11; 28:25).
+The Significance+ and importance of these journeys
cannot be overestimated. It is probable, when the call
came, that Paul had but little idea of their magnitude and
that in the end they would result in changing not only the
religion, but the philosophy and civilization of the world.
+Extent and Time.+--It is estimated that the first
journey was 1,400 miles long, the second 3,200, and the
third 3,500, making 8,100 miles traveled by Paul.
The time occupied for the three journeys was about
ten years.
+The Record+ of the three missionary journeys, is briefly
comprised in eight and a half chapters (Acts 13:1-21:17),
and it does not profess to be a complete one. Only the
most striking incidents and events, and probably not all
of these, are given. There were side trips not recorded
by Luke; Paul speaks of one to Illyricum (Rom. 15:19),
and of others in which he underwent great perils (2
Cor. 11:24-27).
The purpose of Luke seems to be to show how, in
accordance with the command and promise of Christ, the
knowledge and power of the gospel was spread, beginning
in Jerusalem, through Judea, and Samaria, throughout
the heathen world (Acts 1:8); everything seems to be
made to bend to this purpose. Certainly there could be
no more graphic and concise account of these epoch
making events than that given us by this wonderful
narrator.
+Other Long Journeys.+--1. Paul's voyage to Rome as
a prisoner. Luke gives a full account of this voyage, its
many interesting incidents (Acts 27:1-28:16), and of the
circumstances which led up to it (Acts 21:17-27:1).
2. There is every reason to believe that Paul was
released at the end of his two years imprisonment in
Rome (Acts 28:30) and that he made an Eastern journey
as far as Colossae and a Western journey as far as Spain.
NOTE.--These last journeys are considered in chapter ten.
+Method of Work and Support.+--Paul and his companion,
or company, when they entered into a city would
first seek for a lodging and then for work, going from one
tent maker's door to another until finally a place was
found. Then upon the following Sabbath they would
seek the Jewish synagogue and after the reading of the
Scriptures, when an opportunity was given, Paul would
arise and begin to speak, (Acts 13:14-16) leading up
through the Old Testament message (Acts 13:17-43) to
the great topic of Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah
and closing with an exhortation to believe on Him. Such
a speech would naturally excite great interest coming from
the lips of one, who by his speech and the handling of the
Old Testament, would be recognized as a cultivated
Jewish Rabbi. Paul would be asked to speak again the next
Sabbath (Acts 13:44-52), the synagogue would be full of
people and he would set forth Jesus Christ more plainly
as the Savior both of Jew and Gentile. This would
generally be a signal for the Jews to contradict and oppose
Paul, but some Jews would believe with a number of
Gentiles. This would be the starting point of the
Christian church in that community. The Jews, however, who
were untouched by what Paul preached, and who looked
upon him as the destroyer of their religion, would raise a
cry against him and seek to have him expelled from the
city. This experience was frequently repeated. There
were great difficulties also to be encountered when the
heathen thought that their worship was in danger (Acts
19:20-30).
+The Message+ which Paul bore to Jew and Gentile was
the moving force of all his work. The starting point was
the memorable day when Jesus Christ appeared to him on
his way to Damascus. Paul believed that he received his
commission as an apostle directly from Jesus Christ
(Gal. 1:1-24). The four main positions of Paul, set
forth so plainly in his Epistle to the Romans, are: (a)
All are guilty before God (Jew and Gentile). (b) All
need a Savior. (c) Christ died for all. (d) We are all
(through faith) one body in Christ. Paul leaves us in no
doubt as to how he regards Jesus Christ. He is to him
the Son of God, through whom God created all things
and who is the Divine Savior of man (Eph. 3:9-21;
Phil. 2:9-11; Rom. 9:5). There is no doubt, no
hesitation on Paul's part in delivering his message. He is a
witness, testifying to the glory of his Divine Lord. He
is a messenger who cannot alter or tamper with that which
has been entrusted to him. To the rude inhabitants of
the mountain regions of Asia Minor, to the philosophers
in Athens, to the Roman governors in Caesarea, to the
dwellers in Corinth and in Rome the purport of the
Message is always the same.
THE FIRST JOURNEY
_Scripture, Acts 13:1-14:28_
+Preparation.+--First, on the part of Paul. About ten
years have passed since his conversion. During this time
we have few notices of him, but he was undoubtedly
making ready for this very important work of a missionary.
Second, on the part of the church. The first step
had already been taken, in the conversion of Cornelius, in
the giving of the gospel to the Gentile world. Third,
Paul was brought to Antioch by Barnabas to assist the
church in the great revival which broke out in that second
early center of Christian work and teaching (Acts 11:21-26).
Fourth, the large success of the disciples who went
throughout Judea and Samaria, preaching the gospel, after
the death of Stephen (Acts 7:5-8:4; 11:19-21) made
possible this new aggressive movement to the regions
beyond. Fifth, the Christian prophets and teachers at
Antioch "ministered to the Lord and fasted." They
desired to know the will of the Lord and it was made
known to them by the Holy Ghost. "And when they
had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they
sent them away." "So they being sent forth by the
Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia (Acts 13:3, 4).
+Companions of the Journey+, Barnabas and Saul (Acts
13:2) and John Mark (Acts 13:5). Barnabas has been
called the discoverer of Saul. He was probably a convert
of the day of Pentecost. He was a land proprietor of the
island of Cyprus and early showed his zeal for Christ by
selling his land and devoting the proceeds to the cause in
which he so heartily believed (Acts 4:36, 37). He
early sought out and manifested, in a very practical way,
his friendship for Paul (Acts 9:27; 11:22, 25, 30;
12:25). John Mark, who started on this journey with
Barnabas and Saul, was a nephew of Barnabas (Acts
13:5, 13; 12:25; Col. 4:10).
+Paul Comes to the Front+ when his company leave
Paphos and ever after he has the first place (Acts 13:
13). Here also he is called Paul for the first time, a
name which he retains.
+Extent and Time+--This was the shortest of the three
journeys (about 1,400 miles). It extended over the island
of Cyprus and a part of Asia Minor. In time it occupied
about three years, 47-50 A.D.
+Rulers+--Claudius was the emperor of Rome, since
41 A.D. Herod Agrippa was king of Chalcis, Ananias
was high priest in Jerusalem.
THE ITINERARY
NOTE.--The cities, which Paul visited in this and the other
journeys, should be located upon the map by the student. It will
greatly increase the interest to consult some good Bible dictionary
and get well acquainted also with the history of the places.
+Salamis+, on the island of Cyprus, was the first place
reached, after sailing from Seleucia (Acts 13:4, 5) the
sea-port of Antioch. It was the natural thing to go first to
this island as it had been the home of Barnabas and many
Jews had settled there; it was about eighty miles to the
southwest of Seleucia.
+Paphos.+--After passing through the island from east
to west the missionaries came to Paphos. This city was
the seat of the worship of Venus, the goddess of love.
This worship was carried on with the most degrading
of immoralities.
The chief incidents in the ministry here were the
smiting of the Jewish sorcerer, Elymas, with blindness for his
persistent opposition and the conversion of the deputy of
the country, Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:6-12). Saul is
filled with an unusual power of the Spirit for his work in
this city and takes the name of Paul. It is now no longer
Barnabas and Saul, but Paul and Barnabas.
+Perga in Pamphylia+--(Acts 13:13, 14). The missionaries
take ship from Paphos and sail in a north-easterly
direction across the Mediterranean Sea to this city of Asia
Minor. John Mark, doubtless appalled by the difficulties
which had already been experienced and now that the
journey seemed to promise still greater hardships, left the
company and returned to Jerusalem.
+Antioch in Pisidia+ (Acts 13:14-52) was about ninety
miles directly north of Perga. It was a good-sized city
with a large Jewish population. Luke's account of this
visit is notable in that we have the chief points in Paul's
speech in the synagogue set down. This address is worth
study from the fact that it is the first sermon of Paul of
which we have any record, and is probably the usual way
in which he began his work in a great many Jewish
synagogues. Paul is asked to speak to the assembled Jews.
He begins upon the common ground of the history of
Israel. He declares the promise of a Savior. This
Savior is to be of the seed of David. Then Paul sets
forth that Jesus is the promised Savior. He reminds
them of the testimony of John and of those who had seen
Jesus before and after His resurrection. He declares
unto them the glad tidings of a Savior. He warns them
of their peril in rejecting Jesus Christ. Paul is invited to
speak upon the next Sabbath, but there is a division and
those who oppose Paul try to drive him out of their city
which they finally succeed in doing. But the Word has
fallen into good soil and there is the beginning of a
Christian church.
+Iconium in Lycaonia+ (Acts 14:1-5) is over one
hundred miles distant from Antioch. The missionaries were
now in a country of a people with strange ways. They
remained here for some time and their ministry was
attested by "signs and wonders." But again some of
the Jews opposed them and stirred up the multitude. A
plan was made by the ringleaders of the opposition to
stone them, but being made aware of it Paul and Barnabas
"fled unto Derbe and Lystra." They had, however, the
satisfaction of leaving behind "a great multitude of
believing Jews and Greeks" (Acts 14:1).
+Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia+ (Acts 14:6-21).--"And
there they preached the gospel." There is no
mention of any Jewish synagogue at either of these cities.
The inhabitants were worshippers of the heathen gods.
The healing of a lame man at Lystra brought Paul and
Barnabas directly into touch with the heathen priests and
populace. When they saw this miracle of healing, they
thought that the gods had come down to earth in the
likeness of men. Barnabas was called Jupiter "and Paul
Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker." When
Paul and Barnabas sought to restrain the priests and
people from doing sacrifice to them, it is interesting to
note what words Paul uses in addressing them. As with
the Jews he here seeks first of all a common ground. He
says, "We are men of like passions with you and preach
unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto
the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and all things that are therein; who in times past
suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Nevertheless He left not Himself without a witness, in that He
did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts
14:15-17). We find the same earnestness the same desire
to preach the gospel to the heathen here as to the Jews
elsewhere. But the Jews who had made trouble in
Antioch and Iconium for the missionaries came to Lystra and,
forming a plot against Paul, persuaded the people and
stoned him so that he was drawn out of the city, they
"supposing he had been dead." But he was not dead, he
soon rose up and came back into the city and the next
day departed with Barnabas to Derbe, where they
preached the gospel and taught many.
+The Return Journey+ is very briefly recorded (Acts
14:21-28). The missionaries returned through the same
cities, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, and so back to Perga.
But from the last city they did not sail to the island of
Cyprus, but took a different course, westerly along the
coast to Attalia in Pamphylia and from thence they sailed
to Antioch, the starting point of their trip. During this
return journey they proved to their friends and enemies
that, in departing from the cities where mobs threatened
them, it was through no cowardice on their part, but for
other reasons and for the purpose of preaching the gospel
in the regions beyond. They "confirmed the souls of the
disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith." They
also further perfected the organization of the churches,
ordaining elders in every church. They prayed with and
for the disciples and commended them to the Lord.
When the missionaries at last entered the city of
Antioch, "they rehearsed all that God had done with them,
and how He had opened the door of faith unto the
Gentiles." There must have been great rejoicing over this
happy return of Paul and Barnabas.
THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL
_Acts 15:1-35_
+One Problem of the Early Church+ was how to
reconcile the commandments of Moses with the new law of
liberty in Jesus Christ. Ought the Gentile Christians to
observe the law of Moses? Ought they to become Jews
before they became Christians? Were there to be two
churches? One for Jewish and another for Gentile
Christians? These questions are obsolete now, but then they
were burning ones and hotly debated. Hence this Jerusalem
Council, where the matter was debated and settled,
was exceedingly important and fraught with great and
grave consequences for the future welfare of the church.
Because certain of the Jewish brethren came to Antioch
and began to teach that it was necessary to salvation
that a certain Jewish ordinance and the law of Moses be
kept, it was determined to send Paul and Barnabas to
Jerusalem.
A council of "the apostles and elders came together
for to consider of this matter" (Acts 15:6). At this
council in Jerusalem, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James
were the chief speakers. All matters were carefully gone
over. Of all the speeches made, Luke records only the two
made by Peter (Acts 15:7-12) and James (Acts 15:13-2l),
which must have embodied the sense of the meeting
in that both spoke for liberty, from the Mosaic yoke, in
Christ.
+The Decision+ of the council was for the freedom of the
Gentile Christians and that they should not be obliged to
become Jews before they became Christians. Thus was
one of the grave crises of the early church safely passed.
Paul and Barnabas went back happy in that great victory
for Gentile Christianity to their brethren at Antioch.
It should be borne in mind, however, that while the
question of the relation of the Gentile Christians to the
law of Moses was decided at this council, it was one
which came up again and again to hamper and bother
Paul in his missionary work.
QUESTIONS
What is to be considered in the introduction to the three
missionary journeys? By whom was the call to this work? What is
the significance of the journeys? The extent and time? What
can be said of the record? Were there other long journeys by
Paul? What was the method of work and support? What was
the message? The first journey; what was the preparation for it?
Who the companions? Time and extent? Rulers? Give some
of the incidents that took place upon the Itinerary, at Salamis,
Paphos, Perga, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe? What
can be said of the return journey? Why was the Jerusalem
Council necessary, and what was decided by it?
II. PAUL'S JOURNEYS
_Acts 13:1-28:31_
STUDY IV
SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY
_Scripture, Acts 13:36-18:32_
ANALYSIS
+Second Missionary Journey+--The Inception. The Companions.
The Wide Scope. Value to the World. Time and Rulers.
Epistles to the Churches.
+The Itinerary+--Through Asia Minor. In Europe (Philippi.
Thessalonica. Berea. Athens. Corinth).
+The Return Voyage+--Ephesus. Caesarea. Antioch.
II. PAUL'S JOURNEYS
_Scripture, Acts 13:1-28:32_
STUDY IV
SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY
_Scripture, Acts 15:36-18:22_
+The Inception+--After the Jerusalem Council Paul
returned to Antioch where he spent some time, "teaching
and preaching the Word of the Lord with many others
also." "And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas,
Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where
we have preached the Word of the Lord, and see how
they do" (Acts 15:35, 36). He felt that he must be
advancing the work of Jesus Christ.
+The Companions+ (Acts 15:37-40).--Barnabas
proposed to take John Mark, his nephew, with them on this
second journey. But Paul strenuously objected, basing
his objection on the ground that this young man had
deserted them (Acts 13:13) at a very important juncture
in the first journey. We are told that the contention was
very sharp between Barnabas and Paul over this matter.
It was finally settled by Barnabas taking John Mark and
sailing for the island of Cyprus and Paul choosing Silas
for his companion. When Paul came to Derbe and
Lystra Timotheus was invited to join him, which he did
(Acts 16:1-4). Luke, the author of the Acts, goes with
this company into Macedonia (Acts 16:10). We can
trace Luke's connection with the missionaries by the
"we" passages.
That Paul was afterwards reconciled to Barnabas and
John Mark is shown by his kindly mention of them in his
Epistles (1 Cor. 9:6; Col. 4:10; 2 Tim 4:11;
Philem. 24).
+The Wide Scope+ is a marked feature of this journey of
about 3,200 miles.
The first journey was through Cyprus, where Barnabas
was well acquainted, and through that section of Asia
Minor roundabout the province of Cilicia, where Paul was
practically at home. Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia
and it was to this region that he went for some part of
the time between his conversion and his call to the
missionary work (Acts 9:30; Gal. 1:21).
The second journey carries Paul into entirely, to him,
new provinces of Asia Minor and into Macedonia and
Achaia. He comes into close contact not only with the
rough native populations of the Asian provinces but with
the cultivated philosophers of Greece and the effeminate
voluptuaries of the heathen temples. Here are new tests
for this missionary and the gospel which he preaches, but
he meets them all. This journey had a large significance
for the spread of Christianity. Had the gospel failed to
meet the wants of all sorts and conditions of men, there
would have been no further triumphs for it.
+Value to the World.+--"This journey was not only the
greatest which Paul achieved but perhaps the most
momentous recorded in the annals of the human race. In
its issues it far outrivalled the expedition of Alexander the
Great when he carried the arms and civilization of Greece
into the heart of Asia, or that of Caesar when he landed
on the shores of Britain, or even the voyage of Columbus
when he discovered a new world."
To Paul's turning westward, instead of eastward,
through the guidance of the Spirit, and his entering upon
his work in Macedonia (Acts 16:7-11) Europe to-day
owes her advancement and Christian civilization. It is
stating a sober fact when it is asserted that without
Christianity Europeans would now be worshipping idols, the
same as the inhabitants of other sections of the world
where the gospel of Christ has not been made known.
+Time and Rulers.+--In time this journey extended over
about three years, 51-54 A.D. The rulers were: Claudius,
Emperor of Rome (Nero became Emperor in 54 A.D.);
Herod Agrippa II., King of Chalcis (who also gets
Batanea and Trachontis); and Gallio, Procurator of
Achaia.