The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 375

of his hc1ut, nnd a]so when he did no~ forget d1;1ty and solemn trying times to come nmid tho syrnpath1os and conzratulatrngs of bright hours. For he was "full of tho Holy Ohost."-B. Vere. 25, 26.-.An tJMly co-p<J,8toTate. The chronology of the period reaching from the martyrdom of Stephen to the mission of Barnabas to Antioch is obscure and has nt present indeed refused to yield up to us dates-as, for instance, leadin" date;,affecting Saul-of the utmost interest. It is, however, exceedingly probable that six full years bad now passed since the conversion of Saul. During the whole of this time he has been-we may say it without a doubt, though perhaps it were not easy to find actual chapter and verse for the statement--" preaching Christ." He has been removed from one station to another for safety's sake twice. He has latterly been for some time at 'l'a.rsus, his native place, and it is of his employment during his stay at Tarsus that we know least. While, as already said, there is scarcely room to doubt that there emphatically he would be preaching Christ, it would seem a. little remarkable if he did so through a period of one or two years with impunity. Hither, however, Barnabas now comes, to seek a colleague and efficient help in his work at Antioch. Very brief are the touches of the pen which convey to us the situation here. But they portray, nevertheless, something so natural and almost homely, that it is not difficult, and is pleasant and instructive, to fill in the detail of the picture. I. BARNABAS FINDS AN U?."'EXPECTED AND A GRAND FIELD 01!' LABOUR AT ANTIOCH. 1. He came on one errand; he stays on another, and that a great enterprise. He came to inquire about the justifia.bleness of certain goings on. He is forced to become part 11.nd parcel of them, and to embark in them heart a.nu hand and voice. 2. He observes "that a great door and effectual is opened before him" (1 Cor. xvi. 9). Antioch, for its situation, its buildings, and its very various and important people-for its Jewish population, for its Greek fashion, and its Roman military, and its business and com- mercial connections-cannot be surpassed as a place of importance for preaching Christ from the first moment that it is apparent that not Jews only, but Gentiles also, Greek and Roman, are to be embraced within the blessings of the covenant. 3. When already'' much people was added unto the Lord," and" a great number had believed and turned unto the Lord," his heart is "touched with compassion" (as his Master's once and often was) when he saw" the sheep without a shepherd," and "the fields white to harvest," and the harvest one of superlative promise, "but the labourers few." And no doubt he "prayed the Lord of the harvest," and got his answer. II. BARNABAS CONSULTS AS TO ONE THING ALONE. 1. He wishes, if it be possible, to compass the work. 2. He knows no grain of envy or jealousy or selfish ambition. 3. He will lose a few weeks of time if he may return armed better by far for the work, for he bethinks himself (or otherwise in answer to his prayer has been reminded divinely) of one of remarkable conversion and of surpassing energy. He will be a likely belpmeet, Barna.bas has already walked arm-in-arm with him in Jerusalem, and has been surety for him with the Church in J erusa.lem. With this strong man, who has now been tried, been ripening in comparative retirement, and bas borne the trial, would he wish to be associated in besieging, with a view to take, this tempting citadel of Antioch. He is keeping up his character as given us in the preceding verses. He is "full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." His eye is single, his best reason and mental jndgment are given to the question before him. His motives are pure and his conscience sensitive. 4. He is going to have his man, He will not miss of Saul. He journeys after him to seek him. He believes not in messages nor proxies. He finds him and brings him to Antioch. Ill. BARNABAS AND SAUL BELIEVE moo-OPERATION. 1. They believe in brotherly love. It was e. somewhat new thing to believe in, in some aspects of it. Not a few natural kinds of love unite us together. But brotherly love came in largely with the followers of Jesus, viz. that kind of love which brought two men to work together for religiott,s ends. 2. They believe in the prnctica.l adva.nta~es of two working t~gether. (1) One sustains the purpose of the other. (2) The weak side of one character 1s com- pensated by the / orte of the other. (3) Many an enterprise must pine for want of Rnllicient support at the hand of one alone, which may be easily compassed by two, and lP.ave them Rtill spare energy. 3. They disbelieve in unworthy rivalry, in com•  372 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [cu. XI, 1-30.