the Gentile Cornelius and his household, and again we read: "And the Apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." What wonder then that there was almost a panic when the good people at Jerusalem not only heard that there was a revival at Antioch which was spreading among the Gentiles, but also that it had commenced and was going forward without the presence or sanction of a single deacon or Apostle from the mother church. Something must be done and done quickly. What mattered it if they did know that the evangelists were "preaching the Lord Jesus,' what mattered it if they did know that "the hand of the Lord was with them," and that "a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. What mattered all this when the revival had begun without their sanction, and was continuing without their supervision.

Things must not go on like that a moment longer. Something irregular might be done, and what compensation could there be in the contemplation of a multitude of conversions if some technical rule of order had been violated, or if the supremacy of the Jerusalem church was not duly recognized? They must forthwith send a man down to Antioch to take immediate charge of this irregular manifestation of saving grace, to guide, and, if necessary, curb the

intemperate and overwhelmingly successful zeal of these unknown and unauthorized evangelists from Cyprus and Cyrene who "spake unto the Greeks also."

But who should be sent on such a momentous mission? Surely their most trusted member, the man of greatest force of character, widest knowledge of men and affairs. He must be a man of tact, wisdom, and firmness; one who thoroughly understood orthodox Christianity, who was a master of men and affairs.

They must make no mistake here. But who should be their choice? what man of their number had the indispensable qualifications, the personal character and ability, and the universal confidence of the church? There were the Apostles and Deacons, should they send one or more of them? This would have been the most obvious thing to do. But evidently none of these had all of the necessary qualifications. There was just one man and one man only who filled the bill-and that man was Barnabas. What a tribute was this to this man's ability and character. Had he been sent along as a subordinate companion with Peter or John or Philip, it would have been an eminent distinction; but not only did the choice fall on him, but he was sent alone to examine, advise, and report.

The church at Jerusalem made no mistake. They never made a wiser move. They builded better than they knew. They, by that one act, unconsciously made all Christian centuries their debtors. Barnabas's mission to Antioch was big with futurity. A

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new chapter in the history of Christianity and of the world was being begun.

As soon as Barnabas reached Antioch his broad charity and keen spiritual insight became immediately apparent. He was able to perceive at once that it was the "grace of God" which was at work, though manifesting itself in a new and unexpected manner. He was convinced by what he saw, and rejoiced in it all, though it was so different from anything which had occurred in his previous experience. Without a word of criticism, without the slightest effort to assume leadership, he immediately made his matchless powers of eloquence tributary to the success of the all-conquering sweep of the great revival. Nor was this his greatest service at that crisis hour; rather, great as it was-and great it must have been-it was incomparably less than the service to the city and to all mankind which he soon afterward rendered.

Barnabas had not been in the work long before two things were borne in upon him: one was that there was no occasion for a speedy return and report to the Jerusalem church; the other was that, competent as were the present leaders of the revival, the work had already as a matter of actual fact, become so far-reaching, and its potentialities so great, that there was not only room for other workers but imperative demand for them. There were Peter and John and other able and eminent men round about Jerusalem and Judea. It would be natural to call upon these.

But much as Barnabas admired them

and much as they trusted him, he knew their limitations only too well. Whom then should he secure to assist him? Who could measure up to the demands of the work and opportunity?

It was the judgment of Barnabas that there was just one man in all the world who could best serve his needs and the demands of the occasion; a man who had without any great dignity of procedure been surreptitiously hurried out of Jerusalem some eight years previously, taken down to Caesarea, and there counselled to embark and retire into obscurity in his native city. This man had taken the counsel given. There was nothing else for him to do. The Apostles had found his presence an embarrassment, and did not perceive his wonderful abilities. For eight years little or nothing had been heard of him; and though he was probably busy all this time in the province of Cilicia, his name was well nigh forgotten at Jerusalem and thereabouts. But Barnabas up in Antioch was now in need of a man. He knew well all the great leaders at Jerusalem, and he also remembered the outcast from Damascus whom he had once befriended, whose face he had once looked into, whose hand he had once grasped-and he knew him for a man. And so unknown though that name was to the world, untried though his abilities were. Barnabas trusted his own judgment in the teeth of the world, having perhaps kept an eye on the man's obscure labors about Tarsus, and so staked the success of the great movement at Antioch on his faith in the fugitive who had been induced to give up at

Jerusalem and surrender all farther attempts at service there-and hence we read "Barnabas went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul."

In that hour God's clock struck high noon for early Christianity. The finding of Saul is sufficient fame for any one man. Had Barnabas never done anything before that day, had he never rendered any service after that hour, his name would deserve immortality among the honor roll of the heroes of the Cross. Already he had discovered Paul the Christian, now he discovers Paul the Preacher. He opens the door for the loftiest genius in the annals of Christianity. He unlocks the prisonhouse for one who has lain there bound in all but impotent silence for eight long weary years.

It is needless to state that Paul joyfully responded to Barnabas's appeal, and returned with him to Antioch. Here they both labored with masterly zeal and success for a whole year.

Toward the end of this period the prophet Agabus came from Jerusalem to Antioch and predicted a famine which not long after occurred, causing intense distress to the little Christian community at Jerusalem. "Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea; which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." Here again we have a high tribute to the confidence everybody instantly reposed in the honor and ability of Barnabas. He had been in Antioch but a year. Other eminent workers from