The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1966

THE MISSIONARY PARTNERSHIP By E. Gordon Wray !~e hi. toric beginning of Foreign f 1<;c;1ons is set forth in brief and sim– ple fa hion in the opening verses of Act c;. Chapter 13. The Lord had com– n1anded hie; disciple , a the nucleu of the. first local church, to di ciple all nat1,on . After the pattern of Acts J : 8 they had witne<;<;ed in Jeru alem • • ,n al l Judea, and in Samaria. Now they are venturing beyond the shore of Palestine in the task that must carry them " ... to the t1ttermost part of the earth.' ' Hand-picked God hand-picked Hi me senger tor this pecialized ministry. Then He chose a church. To the church at Antioch He said, "Separate me Barna– bas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." ( 13 :2) Thus wa es~ablis?ed a blessed partnership; oon– ce1ved 1n heaven and precious. It goes without saying that the work of Mi - sions requires mi sionaries. The same scripture, however, which says, " ... and how shall they hear without a preacher?" also intone without so 111uch as a syllable of interruption "And ho"' shall they preach excep; they be sent?" ( Romans 10: 14-15). ..I here 111ust be the 1oer, and this is t J1e 111i i 11ary. There 111u t also be tl1c ~ ender. ar,d thi in tl1e precedent of J1oly scri JJt t.J r is the cw l "cst a111c11t local hurcl1. he acred a11d blessccl J art11ersf1ip j r1ot 111er ly twof(>ld llut i 11cludv yet a11otl1er part}' . 11 e is 1 01 the t)1ird 1,er n l,t1t ratt1~r tile f 1 r t , r n d w r> a I f 1 I 1 e J I J} ' I' i r i t of c, . l11i tian ti io11 , a r1ot 1111 c nc i, d in l-Iea, 1 ..:;11 · it i i11at1g- u at d , JllJJ " 1 d , a11 l Uf) r\' i l;d l1> ) tl1 J Joi~ 11 t in it ~ 1 e1 }' a - J t. I tt I ar ]1ould \\ i11dt1lg t 11 e i 11 f o 11 it t i 11 g 1 r I S 11 I I t 11~, , t r I l 111 111 i n n f J) I f I t I Jl th 1 c. l . c 11 r, 11 a I z 111 ir 11 n I J 111 I I f t 11 i i 11 ar ]>a, t1 r 11r> I call d "'' d i1 11 lJ t I TH OHIO IND P t D NT BAPTISl hoth human agent ; He sent the n1e - e~ger. out: He fi lled then1 and sup– plied JOY for their labor . (Act 13: 3 4, 9. 52.) ' God did not a ign the roll f pioneer~ng the Foreign Mi ionary Enterprise to untried men. Barnaba " ... wa a good man and ful l of the Holy Ghost and of faith; and much people was added unto the church." (Act 11: 24). The following verses bring together Barnaba and au] to a relationship that is to culminate in the fir t mi ionary journey. Then de– parted Barnaba to Tar u for to eek Sa111. And when he had found him, he brought hin1 unto Antioch. And it came to pa that a whole year they a sembled them elve with the church, and taught much people . . . (Act 11 :25-26). Barnabas and Saul cer– tainly were anything but novice . God cho e an extraordinary church fo r thi holy a ignment. All that we read of the Antioch hurch bear this out. We thank God for thi fore– runner of great mi ionary churche . Both Mi\ ionarie and Mi ionary Church re ponded in1n1edia tely and fu ll y to the call of d. and the I orn1al cottr e of foreign n1i si n'i en– ter eel UfJOn the stream of hi<;l ry. E. Gordon Wray A ignificant point of empha i i. fo11nd in the tory of Paul and Barna– ba returning home from their fir. t tern1 of foreign ervice. Act. 14: 26 tel ls ti , 'And thence . ailed to Anti– och, from whence they had been re– comn1ended to the grace f (i for the \¥Ork which they fttlfilled.'' More than recommend The word reco111111e11ded in the au– thorized ver ion. n1ay more properly be rendered co111111itted. The Antioch hurch had done much more than to n1erely recon1mend their n1i ionari . The word co111111it conn te the full force of divine po ition, privilege. and prerogative which the 1 cal cht1rch held in thi ble.. ed relation- hip. l t . ignificance f r ti • in both precept an(i precedent . n1u t not be overlooked. Thi an1e \er e tell tt " that the \Nork f r \\ hi ch the h n1e chttrch h,1d c 111111itte(l th ir 111i ~ i nar1e~ to the gr,1cc of ("iod. ··... the\ fttlfilleti .. Thi, i, a, it ,hottlcl he . LOS ANGELES BAPTIST COLLEGE & GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY NEWHALL, B Dr. John R. Dunkin Pre ident CALIFORNIA A CHRIST CENTERED COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES C. Lloyd Button, M. A. Dean • Six Maiors (A.B. & B. S. Degree) • Outstanding Faculty • Good Employment • "Come and Enioy The Sun'' o Lovely New Campu Write fo r Catalog Today LABC. Newl1 II, APRIL 1966 I 1f o rr, 1 • PAGE 7