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The Acts of the Apostles
to care but little for the things of eternal value, they sought to arrest
the attention of the honest in heart, and to bear positive testimony
concerning Him whom they loved and served. In their humble ministry
they learned to depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to make
effective the word of life. And so, in the various walks of life, they
daily bore testimony of their faith in Christ.
The example of the followers of Christ at Antioch should be an
inspiration to every believer living in the great cities of the world today.
While it is in the order of God that chosen workers of consecration and
talent should be stationed in important centers of population to lead
out in public efforts, it is also His purpose that the church members
living in these cities shall use their God-given talents in working for
souls. There are rich blessings in store for those who surrender fully
to the call of God. As such workers endeavor to win souls to Jesus,
they will find that many who never could have been reached in any
other way are ready to respond to intelligent personal effort.
The cause of God in the earth today is in need of living representa-
tives of Bible truth. The ordained ministers alone are not equal to the
task of warning the great cities. God is calling not only upon ministers,
but also upon physicians, nurses, colporteurs, Bible workers, and other
consecrated laymen of varied talent who have a knowledge of the word
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of God and who know the power of His grace, to consider the needs of
the unwarned cities. Time is rapidly passing, and there is much to be
done. Every agency must be set in operation, that present opportunities
may be wisely improved.
Paul’s labors at Antioch, in association with Barnabas, strength-
ened him in his conviction that the Lord had called him to do a special
work for the Gentile world. At the time of Paul’s conversion, the Lord
had declared that he was to be made a minister to the Gentiles, “to
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of
sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in Me.”
Acts 26:18
. The angel that appeared to Ananias had said
of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”
Acts 9:15
. And Paul
himself, later in his Christian experience, while praying in the temple
at Jerusalem, had been visited by an angel from heaven, who bade