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Spirit to empower them as witnesses. I t was to be a baptism ; th e Spirit was to be poured out upon them . Note the o rder: F irst,— they were to wait. Noth ing can be accomplished in sp iritual things un til God’s tim e comes. Obedi ence is the first requisite in th e life of faith . Every prom ise of God is certain. W aiting implies preparation. No tim e is lost th a t is spent in w aiting upon God. Second,— they were to be anointed: The power of the Holy S pirit was to come upon them . There was no doubt about th e power. He came upon each one. There was conscious enduem ent; they felt; they spoke. Third,-—they were to be witnesses. The whole purpose of the anointing was clearly set fo rth . This was done for- th e ir own satisfaction. Not th a t they m ight feel good; not th a t they m ight be puffed up, bu t th a t they m ight serve. They were to be set ap a rt for testim ony concerning th e crucifixion, ascension and coming of the Lord. F o u rth ,— the extent of th e ir field of service was th e world. W hat a mes sage! W hat power! W h at a field! W hat a blessed privilege! Would th a t th e Lord would b ring every disciple to see his position, and th e purpose for which God has called him . , (2 ) A H ealing F a ith Perceived. “ P er ceiving th a t he had faith to be healed.” v. 7. Having shaken th e dust of Antioch of P isidia from th e ir feet as a testimony again st it, P aul and Barnabas journeyed to Iconium , where God gave them access to g reat m ultitudes. The la st verse of th e preceding chapter tells us th a t they were “ filled w ith joy and w ith th e Holy Sp irit.” In such a sp irit they com menced th e ir work tog ether in Iconium. Many believed and wonderful works were w rought. When God works, the Devil also works and he stirred up th e unbelieving Jews, who poisoned the m inds of th e Greeks. However, they continued to boldly preach th e Gospel. The Gospel is a divider,— it separates people, often dividing fam ilies. (Matt.
1 0 :3 6 ). The city was divided, p art holding w ith the Apostles and p a rt w ith the Jews. The logical climax was reached when the p arty in the wrong prepared to do violence to th e Apostles. To rem ain would mean to subject them selves and th e ir followers to unneces sary suffering and to involve others in th e gu ilt of m urder, so they carried out th e injunction, “ If they persecute you in one city, flee to an o th er” (Matt. 10: 23). D iscretion is often th e b etter p a rt of valor. So they fled to Lystra. Lys- tra was one of the sou thern cities of Lycaonia,— obscure and rem ote from civilization. H ere they found a man who was a deplorable cripple. He is a m arked type of the sinner. He was born lame,— helpless, in th a t he was unable to w alk; hopeless, in th a t he was in curable. Lameness is no t the normal condition. God has given limbs w ith which to walk. A sinful life is an ab norm al life. This man had feet bu t could no t use them (Psa. 14 :1 -3 ). The sinner is born lame. The passing years fix w ith unalterable definiteness his aw ful condition. Unable to w alk in the straig h t and narrow path th a t leads to glory, unable to stand before God, car ried about by th e will of S atan and lying deserted and desolate on life’s highway. The cripple had ears to hear, and th is is w hat th e sinner needs. P au l preached a divine message and th e cripple could no t leave th e service, so was compelled to h ear th e sermon. Perhaps P au l told th e sto ry of the Pool of Bethesda (Jno. 5 :1 -9 ), and how th e cripple who had not walked for th irty and eigh t years took up his bed and w alked; or th e sto ry of th e cripple a t the B eautiful gate, who w ent w alking and leaping and praising God. A t any rate, it was a telling tes timony and P au l w ith a discerning sp irit (Luke 5 :20 ) saw he had faith to be healed. The Spirit applied th e Word (Jno. 16 :14 ) and inspired the faith. P aul exercised faith and issued a defi nite command.
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