797
THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S
God. A t any rate, it was a telling testi mony and Paul, w ith a discerning spirit, (Luke 5 :20) saw th a t he had faith to be healed. The Spirit had applied the Word and inspired faith. (John 16: 14) “ H e sh al l gl orify m e ; for h e s c e i v e o f m i n e , an d shall sh e w i t P aul exercised faith and issued a de finite command. “ Stand up righ t on thy feet” and th e cripple exercised faith and stood. The man' was healed instantaneously snd knew it. This is so different from Eddyism. Divine power was m anifest ed in his healing. Salvation is an Im m ediate work. So soon as th e sinner hears and heeds the voice of God— opens his h ea rt and takes Christ in—i he is saved and it is his privilege to leap and walk and praise God. (2 ). A H eath en F aith , The gods are come down to us.” The purpose of m iracles is to a t te st th e Word of God, confirm H is mes s ngers and waken confidence in th e doubtful. Miracles are for unbeliev ers. The tru e child of God does not seek for signs. He has th e unm istak able sign and seal w ithin him and God’s Word is his sufficient testimony. The effect of th e m iracle was wonder ful upon th e dismayed people; they pro posed to worship P aul and Barnabas. The h ea rt of man is always ready to worship an object which it can see w ith th e n atu ra l eyes. Man-worship is one of tiie curses of th e tw entieth century. The world is fast qualifying itself to worship th e Man of Sin who may soon be manifested. These Lystrans had a local legend concerning Ju p ite r and Mercury who were supposed to have come down one day in the form of travelers to th e home of a cottager and, being received w ith hospitality, transform ed th e cottage in to a temple. The people associated th is legend w ith P aul and Barnabas, so th e p riest of th e temple brought offer ings to th e gate for sacrifice.
main would mean subjecting themselves and th eir followers to unnecessary suf fering and to involve others in th e guilt of m urder, so they carried out th e in junction, “ If they persecute you in one city flee to ano th er” (Matt. 1 0 :23 ). Dis cretion is often th e b etter p art of valor, bo they fled to Lystra. (1 ). A H ealing F a ith "Perceiving th a t he had faith to be healed.” L ystra was one of th e southern cities of Lycaonia— obscure and remote from civilization. Here .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 un able to w alk ; hopeless in th a t he was incurable. Lameness is not a normal condition. God has given limbs w ith which to walk. A sinful life is an abnorm al life. This .man had feet b u t could not use them . (Psa. 14:1-3) d o et h g o o d , n o , n ot o n e .? ’ The sinner is born lame. The pass ing years fix w ith un alterab le'd efin ite ness his awful condition. Unable to walk in th e straig h t and narrow path th a t leads to glory, unable to stand be fore God, carried about by the will of Satan and lying deserted and desolate on life’s highway. The cripple had ears to hear, and this is w hat th e sinner needs. P aul preach ed a Divine message and as the cripple could no t get away he was compelled to h ear th e sermon. Perhaps P au l had told th e story of th e pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9) and how th e cripple who had not w alked for th irty and eight years took up his bed and w alked; or th e story of th e cripple a t th e B eautiful Gate who w ent w alking and leaping ■ and praising
“ T h e f o o l h a th said in his h e a r t, T he re is n o G o d . T h e y a re corr upt, th ey h a v e d o n e a b o m i n a b l e wo rks, th e r e is n o n e t h a t d o e t h g o o d . T h e L o r d l o o k e d d o w n fr o m h e av en up o n th e ch il dr en o f m e n , to s e e i f th er e were any t h a t d i d un derstand, an d seek G o d . T h e y a re a ll g o n e as id e , th e y a r e all to g e th e r b e c o m e filt hy ; th er e is n o n e t h a t
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs