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worker. They believed, b u t were ig no ran t of the source from which the power em anated. Every h e a rt must have its God. These heathen proposed to worship two men who were abou t as good as were on the face of th e earth , bu t they were as far from rig h t worship as th e heavens were above th e earth . (Rom. 1 :2 5 ). (4) A H elpful F a ith Admonished. “Ye should tu rn from these vanities, unto th e living God.” Y. 15. P au l and B arnabas sough t for no worship from man. Indeed, they would not perm it it. Acts 10:26; Rev. 19:10. Herod accepted .worship and was strick en of God, and it is said a noted man in th is country, setting him self up to be some g reat one, was strick en w ith a like disease and was eaten of worms. P aul imm ediately repudiated any such ido latry and directed th e ir m inds to the tru e God. Jno. 5:44. The message of P aul was a dissertation on th e tru e God. Turn from idols to th e tru e God. (1 Thess. 1 :9 ). Few men stop to th in k why they worship false gods. W hat reason could any man give for rejecting Jesu s Christ if he had once heard the good news of th e Gospel of th e Grace of God? The whole controversy of God w ith man is involved in th is tu rn in g from his idols, no m a tte r w hat they are, to th e Lord Jesu s Christ, th e tru e God who has made th e heavens and th e earth . Jno. 1:1-3. Look away from us, says P aul, we are men. The m iracle is only the a tte sta tion of th e tru th we preach. Look to worship Him, pour ou t your offerings a t His feet. This is th e faith which helps men. We m ust labor to get men to fasten th e ir eyes upon H im who was lifted up. Jno. 3: *4-15. Even th e Lamb of God who b eareth away th e sin of th e world. Jno. 1:29. (5) A Heroic F a ith Exhorted. “We must th rough much trib u latio n en ter into th e kingdom of God.” V. 22. The fickle people who were yesterday ready to fall a t his feet and worship him,
“ Stand up righ t on th y feet,” and he exercised faith and stood. The man ■was healed instantaneously and he knew it. This is so different from Eddyism. Divine power was m anifested in his healing. Salvation is an immediate . work. So soon as th e sinner h ears and heeds th e voice of God— opens his h eart and takes Christ in— he is saved and it is his privilege to leap and w alk and praise God. (3 ) A H eathen F a ith M anifested “The gods are come down to us.” V. 11. The purpose of m iracles is to a tte st the Word of God— confirm His messen gers and awaken in the doubtful, confi dence. Miracles are for unbelievers— th e tru e child of God does not seek for signs. He has th e unm istakable sign and seal w ithin him and God’s Word is his sufficient testimony. The effect of th e m iracle was w onderful upon th e dis mayed people— they proposed to wor ship P au l and Barnabas. The h e a rt of man is always ready to worship an object it can see w ith the n a tu ra l eye. Man worship is one of the curses of th e tw en tieth century. The world is fast qualifying itself to worship th e Man of Sin who may soon he mani fested. These Lystrans had a local leg end concerning Ju p ite r and Mercury, who were supposed to have come down one day in the form of trav elers to th e home of a cottager and, being received w ith hospitality, they transform ed th e cottage into a temple. They associated th is w ith P au l and Barnabas,, so the p riest of th e temple b rough t offerings to th e gate for sacrifice. Under th e shallow mockery of th is heathen belief lies a g reat tru th . God has come down in the form of a man (Jno. 1 :14 ) and whosoever opens his h e a rt and receives th is Man as Lord and Master (Jno.. 1 :12 ) is transform ed into a glorious temple of G od' (1 Cor. 3 :1 6 ). The heath en faith is linked w ith sigh t; it sees a m iracle and associates a t once th e power attend ing it w ith the
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