not so many separate units, but members of a Body or Society, a Society which had, in the very nature of things, a framework, an organized system.

The first adherents to the faith at Jerusalem not only believed certain truths, and acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, but continued steadfastly in the fellowship of the Apostles, and in the breaking of the Bread, and in the Prayers.

So when tidings of what was going on at Antioch came to the Church at Jerusalem, the head-quarters of the Christian Society, they sent thither S. Barnabas, one of their leading men, to superintend the work which was going on.

When S. Barnabas reached Antioch and saw the extent and the reality of the work which was in progress, he felt that he could not cope with the work single-handed. There was one man, he felt, who both by special calling and special gifts could give him the help he required, and that man was Saul.

To Saul the invitation of Barnabas to go with him to Antioch came as the voice of the Måster Himself, the voice for which he had been waiting.

S. Luke does not devote many words to the work which Barnabas and Saul carried on together at Antioch, He only says:-"For a whole year they were gathered together with the Church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." But enough is said to show us what sort of work it was. It was, then, a work of teaching, rather than of preaching. It was rather the work of commissioners organizing a lately conquered province, than that of generals advancing to new conquests.

And the result of their labours was that the scattered believers in Christ at Antioch were consolidated into a Church, a Society which, though

containing Jews, was not Jewish. Thus the community of believers stood out in the sight of the people of Antioch, as a distinct and independent organization. And the new Society required a new name: so the people of Antioch, who seem to have had a fancy for giving nicknames, called the members of this new Society Christians, i.e. followers of Christus, or Christ.

But the time had now come when "a new departure” in the extension of the Church was to be made, when a great step in advance would be taken.

Saul had not yet received his full and formal commission as an Apostle. He was called, but not yet sent.

Again and again in his epistles S. Paul speaks of himself as called by God to be an Apostle, and lays great stress upon the fact that he derived his Apostleship not from men, nor through man, but from Christ alone.

He knew that Christ had called him, moreover, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles; again and again had this been impressed upon him. He knew that the work of his life was to proclaim Christ's Gospel to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, to turn them, as he himself had been turned, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.

But he knew also that Christ had called him into His Church; and that he was to execute his Apostleship not only by a direct inward call from Christ, but also to be an Apostle under the dispensation of the Spirit. As he had received his "call" from Christ, so also must he receive his "mission" from the Holy Ghost, that is, from the Holy Ghost dwelling in the Church, speaking by the utterance of its prophets, acting through its ministry.

It is very necessary to grasp this distinction between the call and the mission of S. Paul, for

there is a great deal of confusion of thought upon the subject.

No doubt also the Church at Antioch knew that S. Paul had been called to be the Apostle of the Gentiles; it was also becoming increasingly manifest to them that the time had come for a fresh and direct missionary effort. Their community was now organized, but they felt that organization was not an end in itself, but only a means to an end. If the Church was living it must move. And so again the message was being whispered in their hearts, which was sent by Moses of old, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward!"

But now let us read S. Luke's account of this forward movement.

Acts xiii. 1: Now there were at Antioch in the Church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Symeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And 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. Then 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, went down to Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

We learn from this that the prophets and teachers of the Church at Antioch, though they knew in a general way what was the mind of the Spirit in this matter, did not anticipate His action. They waited till it should please Him to manifest His will. Nor did they wait in vain. 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.

Again, with united prayer and fasting the Church at Antioch besought the direction of the Holy Ghost.

Acts xiii. 3: And then they (i. e. the prophets and teachers) laid their hands on them, and sent them away. So they went, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost.

No one can fail to notice the prominence that is here given to the presence and the action of the Holy Ghost: nor can we help seeing that the mission of Paul and Barnabas by the Holy Ghost was given, not by the direct action of the Spirit upon their minds, but by the Spirit speaking and acting through the Church. Outwardly and visibly they were sent forth by the Church, really and truly they were sent forth by the Holy Ghost.

The scope of this book does not allow us to describe this first missionary expedition on which the two Apostles were sent forth. You will notice, by the way, that they are not called Apostles before this. They were not formally Apostles until they had been sent. But it was no easy expedition. The two Apostles were opposed and hindered, first by a Jewish sorcerer, and afterwards by crowds of Jewish fanatics. At one city in Lycaonia S. Paul was stoned and left for dead.

On their return journey-for nothing daunted by the ill-treatment they had sustained, they went back by these same cities-they appointed elders in every Church, and with prayer and fasting commended the new converts to their Lord.

And so they returned to Antioch, which was henceforth to be the mother Church of the Churches of the Gentiles,—the second great centre of Church life and work. And when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and how that He had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles.

CHAPTER VI.

S. PAUL AS A MISSIONARY AND

EVANGELIST.

E have already seen how S. Paul was inwardly called, and outwardly sent to be an Apostle.

It is hardly necessary to enquire in what spirit he went forth, it breathes in every word that he spoke, in every letter that he wrote. He had no choice. Necessity was laid upon him. "Woe is me," he says, "if I preach not the Gospel;" "The love of Christ constraineth me."

If we knew nothing of S. Paul's method as a missionary and evangelist, beyond what we could gather from his Epistles, we should certainly arrive at the conclusion that S. Paul's plan was to attack those strongholds of heathenism, the great cities of the empire. His Epistles were written, for the most part, to the Christians of the great cities—to Ephesus and Colossæ, in Asia; to Philippi and Thessalonica, in Macedonia; to Corinth in Greece, and above all to Rome.

S. Paul knew that if the battle were to be won, it must be fought in the great cities. He knew that the country followed the lead of the cities, not the cities of the country. Experience justified his method. Heathenism lingered on in the country long after it had disappeared from the towns; and