759
THE K I N G ’S BUS I NE S S ness of th e n a tu ra l man and th e need of Christ (Rom. 5 :6 ).— Brooks. Crip pled from his m o th er’s womb. Such is the case Of the n atu ra l man. He Is born a helpless sinner weighted down w ith th e fallen n atu re of the first man (Romans 5 :1 2 ). Unless help comes from th e outside he will pass th rough tim e and etern ity a crippled helpless soul. He has no curative powers in him self.— Cook. H e h ad never walked. There are no hopeless cases w ith Christ. __Torrey. We should tak e occasion hence to th a n k God for th e use of our limbs and those who are deprived of it may observe th a t th e ir case is no t sin gular.— Henry. v. 9. Perceiving he h ad fa ith to be healed. God will not disappoint the desires th a t are of H is own kindling nor th e hopes of H is own raising.— Henry. The m an’s h e a rt shone ou t in his voice and th e S p irit w ithin th e Apostle recognized th a t h ere was a fit object to be made by his cure a sign unto th e men of L ystra.— Lumby. W hat quick in sigh t God gives th e soul th a t lives in fellowship w ith Him.—Meyer. v. 10. Said w ith a loud voice. The only tim e th e healing word was th u s spoken. How un lik e th e sneaking ways by which deceivers work th e ir wonders. (Is. 8:19, 4 5 :1 9 ).— Echoes. v. 11. The gods come down in th e likeness of men. T h at conviction which shot th rough th e crowd reveals how deep lies th e longing for th e manifes tation of divinity in th e form of hum an ity, and how n atu ra l /ft is to believe th a t if th e re is a Divine Being he is sure to come n ear to us poor men and th a t in our own lik e n e d . The Word did become flesh and dwéü^among us. __Maclaren. When Christ th e Son of God came down and appeared in the likeness of men and did many wonder fu l m iracles, they were fa r from doing sacrifice to Him. “He was in the world and th e world knew Him no t.’ —K. B. T h at which was a sup erstition in
Lycaonia and for which th e whole cre ation groaned, became a rea lity a t Bethlehem.^—W ilkinson. God did come down in th e likeness of man and th is Man has gone up in the likeness o f God, even our g reat God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.— Haldeman. In th e speech of Lycaonia. This explains why th e Apos tles did no t p ro test against th e pro posals a t the time. They appear to have gone home in en tire ignorance of th e construction which th e people had placed upon the m iracle.— Dummelow. v. 12. Called B arnab as J u p ite r and P au l Mercurius. Ju p ite r th e fath e r of th e gods from his commanding mien.— Chrysostom. Mercurius th e god of elo quence and th e messenger and atten d a n t of Ju p ite r in th e heathen mythology. — J. F . & B. v. 13. W ould have done sacrifice. The hum an h e a rt always w ants a man to worship.— Torrey. V. 15, Why do ye th ese th ing s? This stirred them to th e depths. Scoff a t us, fight us, m a ltrea t us, and we will endure, b u t do not make gods of us. I do not know th a t th e ir successors have always felt exactly so. — Maclaren. When people love us and express g rati tude for service they have received at our hands, we are in danger of forget ting th a t honor belongs no t to us hu t to Christ. Do we point g ratefu l people to H im?— Sel. We also a re h u t men. We should be very cautious we do not give th a t honor to ano th er or tak e it to ourselves which is due to God only. Henry, Seeking honor from men and having delight in the applause of th e “ religious world’’ is a deadly thing, for it dishonors Christ to whom th e honor and glory is due. How much of th is th e re is in th e p resen t day.— Gaebelein. There is only one man who can w ithout ido latry be worshipped, Jesu s th e Christ who was “ God m ani fest in th e flesh.”— Sum. Bible. We preach un to you. L iterally bring you th e good tidings.” The message which
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker