Acts 14:8-18

Chapter 44

Prayer

Almighty God, thou wilt not mock our hunger. Surely it is not in all the purpose of thy love to cause our hearts disappointment and grief in thine own house. Thou wilt not appoint the time, and the feast, and the place, and not be there thyself. Thou art thyself the feast; without thee we can hold no banquet; thou art the living One in whom our little lives are hidden. Thou art here, and thou art here to bless. This is thine own house, this is thine own day, this thine own Book, and we are thine own creatures, for thou didst make us, and not we ourselves. We have come up to offer common worship, that what is wanting in one way may be made up by another; and so by the blending of our voices, and the intermingling of our praise and of our prayer, there may arise from this altar sacrifice acceptable unto God. We know what thou dost require of us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thyself, but who can stretch himself around this infinite commandment? Not our energy only, but our love, fails in this tremendous task. But with the commandment thou hast also given strength and hope and grace that is infinite. Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Saviour he is Lord of all we can keep all thy commandments in the entireness of their breadth and claim; we can do all things through Christ strengthening us: he is out strength, he is our peace, he is our all in all. "Other refuge have we none." We are all before thee with broken life and threatened purpose, and grievous affliction because of sin. See thy providence in our history; read thyself in the story of our short life. Thou hast taken away the child where there was only one; thou hast made the survivor old by one stroke of thine hand; thou hast made the young man into an old traveller by one night of heart grief. Thou hast made our hearts very sore because of thy chastisement falling quickly and justly upon our sin. We can do nothing and say that of a certainty it will abide; we draw straight lines, and thou dost tie them into knots; we plant roots that are to bear fruits of pleasure, and, behold, they bear fruits of death; we say, We will do this, and complete in a triumph; we go out to accomplish it, and return no more. All things are verily in thine hands; we would deny it if we could, but thou dost silence us by the pressure of facts which cannot be gainsaid. Thou dost keep us from madness by drawing lines around our ambition; thou wilt not let us build above a certain line: if we do so, thou dost touch the tower at the base, and fling it upon the common earth. We are thine, we are but for a moment, but in this moment is a concentrated eternity, it is a moment of life, wondrous, measureless, boundless life! Regard us, then, with thy compassion, take us up into thine arms; yea, through thy love do thou be familiar and kind with us, pressing us to thy heart, giving us to feel that between us and ruin are the arms of Almightiness. Come back to us; return, O Holy Dove; bring our best memories before us so vividly that we shall take heart again, and with louder, bolder psalm than ever, praise thy holy name. Forgive us every day's transgression by the blood of Christ; cleanse every moment from the defilement with which we have spoiled it. Our very breath is corruption; our walking is profanity, and our downsitting is blasphemy; our whole life is empoisoned in fountain and in stream. We pour out our hearts' complaints at the foot of the Cross, and, seeing the flowing blood, the dying but everlasting Priest, we say, God, be merciful unto us sinners. May we abound in the fruits of the Spirit. May our life be a tree bearing heavenly blossoms and heavenly fruits. By our conversation may men take knowledge of us that we have been with Christ; by our faith, our simplicity, our love, our self-denial, may we show that we have been born again. Give us the grace which results in joy. We would glory in tribulation, not accepting it meekly, but triumphing over it, and making wrath a root of praise and gladness. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. "Lord, increase our faith." "Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief." Amen.

Act 14:8-18

8. And at Lystra there sat a certain man, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.

9. The same heard [G., "was listening to"] Paul speaking: who, fastening his eyes upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole [G., "saved." Paul had done no miracle here before to give the lame man the idea of obtaining physical healing; but as the man listened believingly to the Word he felt within the "power of God unto salvation," and Paul saw that he possessed in this faith the subjective condition necessary for the accomplishment of the miracle. For the two objective conditions of salvation, see Acts 14:1 , Act 14:3 ],

10. said, with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up and walked [G., "was walking"].

11. And when the multitudes saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying, in the speech of Lycaonia [which the Apostles did not understand. But all these Galatian tribes would understand Greek as the Welsh do English], The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.

12. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker [see Ovid, Met. 8, for the legend of a previous appearance of these divinities in this neighbourhood. Barnabas was probably of more venerable aspect than Paul, but there is no ground here for the tradition about Paul's mean physique].

13. And the priest of Jupiter, whose temple was before the city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates [of the town; for these supposed divinities were there in the city], and would have done sacrifice with the multitudes.

14. But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul [ Barnabas takes the lead], heard of it, they rent their garments [Matthew 26:65 . Ritualists put on garments at such times, that they may exploit the superstition of the masses], and sprang forth [out of the city] among the multitude, crying out,

15. and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions [lit., "sympathetic"] with you, and bring you good tidings [the evangel versus ritual], that ye should turn from these vain things ["vanities": the imagined presence of these gods] unto the living God, who made [ch. 17] the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:

16. who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways.

17. And yet [how mildly Chrysostom says "secretly" the charge is laid against them! See Romans 1:22 , Romans 3:10 , etc., for the way Paul writes of the same things to converted people. The model missionary is here!] he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.

18. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the multitudes from doing sacrifice unto them.

Apostolic Service and Temptation

THIS [ Act 14:8 ] is the kind of man who is always looking out for religious excitement or entertainment. He would not be admitted into a drawing-room; he would be a spot on any feast of high conviviality; he could not join in the whirling dance; he must find his dissipation in listening to speakers who have something novel to say. You find this man everywhere he is the padding of every congregation; he seems to have a kind of hereditary right to be in the Church, and to take an interest in speakers of all kinds; we could not well do without him; he is a good make-up, and gives a base to the assembly. We begin with him everywhere. If we can advance to a higher social grade, well and good; but Christianity always begins with the cripples, with the poor, with the outcast, with the friendless. Christianity will begin anywhere. The one cry of Christianity is, "Give me a man," and in reply to this man, the cripple has always been given. The rule seems to have been to say to the cripple, "You go in first, and we will see what effect it has upon you." There are those who have no comfort but in the house of God. Bless their old withered hearts, that house is always open! The lovers of excitement will not have you because you cannot walk, or run, or keep up the race: you would be in the way, but the Church, dear queenly mother, the great Heart, the sweet redeeming loving spirit, she will say, "I have come down to wait for the weak, to gather up those that are lame, and to speak a word in season to him that is weary." This is the defence of the Church of God properly understood, that it shuts out no man, but finds a seat even for the cripple who cannot stand.

Paul, "steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed." That man is also everywhere. He is here in great force this morning the man who has not faith to use his faith; he is a believer, but he cannot say so. He does believe, he does love, he does pray, he is a very Simeon in expectation, but he needs some apostolic man to say to him, "Use your faith: be what you are." That is my speech to you. Don't tell me that you are not a Christian you are; your being here means a whole heartful of meaning. Do not let some notions, and theories, and words without shape, and ideas without authority, keep you out of your inheritance. "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. What you want is the faith to use faith, the courage of your belief. You have wings, and you know that when you are in private yea, in solitude; you do sometimes lift them; not for the world would you be seen doing so, but you do it. In solitude you fall down on your knees, and look up to heaven dumbly; not for the world would you have it known. Why? You want faith to use faith; you want confidence to use the power you have. The great, kind sea waits for you. It is not wrathful, destroying; it is a great easy nurse, a great giant mother, and says, "Come, throw yourselves right upon me, and you shall not sink." Who can tell but that some poor soul now hearing these words may say, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief"? If so, this will be the day of cure, of miracle, of resurrection, the day of the Son of man upon the earth, when the blue heaven comes down to our green sward, and the angels set foot upon the earth.

I wish we could be as sure that Paul is here as that the cripple is. You have here an illustration of Paul's insight into character. "Perceiving that he had faith." Not long since we noticed that Barnabas "saw the grace of God." What eyes those men had: eyes that "wandered through eternity," that knew the Divine grace when they saw it! They knew faith when it was only a light in the face, a gleam in the eye, a new movement of the body. There is more faith in the world than the preachers have yet conceived. Preachers must be perceiving men; they must know one character from another; they must see without looking. There is no stare in the eye of true penetration. You have faith. Without faith you could not live. Why not call things by their right names? Your life is faith, your breath is belief, your action is doctrine. Why not eat and drink abundantly at your Father's table, on your Father's express invitation? We make great mistakes in confounding one character with another, and in mistaking the symptoms that are offered to view, in order to deceive the very elect. Many a man laughs who has no joy he laughs to keep you off the scent; he is not laughing with his heart; he is gay with his father and mother, and they (dear unsuspecting souls!) think he is glad, and they rejoice in his gladness, whilst all the time his laugh has been a lie, and, under his assumed gaiety, his heart has been suffering from the bite of an adder. The wise preacher, whether in the pulpit or in the house, must perceive this: he must have the critical eye which is not deceived by mere symptoms, which pierces the reality and core of the case. Many a man is addicted to bantering who is not frivolous. We have known a man banter the preacher, and the professor, and the Church, whilst all the time he has been seeking by banter to elicit sympathy; he has thought that by this light raillery he would bring from you some further word, some other utterance, some deeper expression. If you had been gifted with apostolic insight, you would have seen under the banter a seriousness almost pathetic. Many a man is silent who wants to speak. All silence is not the same. There are men who have distressed themselves by their own silence, because all the while they have been endeavouring to frame the very first sentence, and it would not be framed. You have thought them cold, distant, indifferent, self-involved; you have complained of want of sympathy, want of speech, want of communion; and many a man has been misjudged in this way: in his heart he has been saying, "Would God I knew how to begin; if I got out one sentence, I could get out another; I want to speak, but my lips cannot be opened even by a two-edged instrument." Beware of rough and hard judgment upon men. No one man knows any other man through and through as that man knows himself. Let us, however, pray for the spirit of discerning, the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of penetration, and let us so use that spirit as to bring men who have taken one step on the right road forward on their journey.

Why did Paul speak "with a loud voice"? Some people object to loud voices they say they could hear quite well if the preacher did not exert himself so. It is not enough to hear you must overhear. An utterance must not deliver its own syllables only, but take with it heart, blood, fire, music, life. If you had spoken with a sublimer audacity, you would have elicited a nobler reply. People knew that Christ spoke with authority, and not as the Scribes, and Paul spoke with a loud voice; not in the sense of mere vocal loudness, but in the sense that his heart went with his voice, and every syllable that he uttered was thus transfigured and glorified into a power.

Not only had Paul keen insight into the character of others, he had also keen insight into his own spirit. That kept him right. Here, as in the case of John the Baptist, is the hour of temptation. Two men are in a heathen country, two men are associated with a miracle which excites the wonder of the pagan mind enough has been done to excite faith in the deity of the men the very high-priest of Jupiter was prepared to offer sacrifices unto the visitors. The oxen are in the streets, the garlands are at the gates, the knife is waiting that shall draw the blood from the oxen, and Paul and Barnabas, you shall be the gods of Lycaonia, and have what you ask for. Every life has its temptation, its forty days in the wilderness, its hand-to-hand fight with hell. Why did not Paul and Barnabas settle down upon this eulogium? They need not perform any other miracle; they have performed one, and on that one they may rest as long as they live: they could become the tyrants of the place, ordering and commanding what they please, and drawing to themselves the superstitious homage of minds wonder-struck and all-trusting. It was the devil's hour if they get over that bridge, the Apostles will be safe! They were over it! When Barnabas and Paul heard of what was going on, "they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saving, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you." Their self-knowledge was, humanly speaking, their salvation. If we knew ourselves, we could not be puffed up by any vanity, or so inhale the incense of adulation as to lose our balance and our reason. Let all men know themselves to be but men, let us be one in the common persuasion of our common origin; and then praise will not be flattery, eulogium will bring with it honest encouragement, and instead of offering sacrifices, we shall offer the nobler homage of confidence and love. Paul said, "We are men of like passions." Like, yet unlike. Preachers are examples as well as expositors: that is to say, they are to show in themselves what Christianity can do, as well as speak out of their spirit what Christianity really is.

This narrative throws some light upon Christianity itself. Christianity makes people do what they never did before. The man is described as one who had never walked. This is the peculiar prerogative and function of Christianity it always makes us do what we never dreamed of doing before. What sacrifices we make, what devotion we offer, what journeys we accomplish, what insults we endure, what persecution we accept, even with joyful-ness we who once resented injury now pray for the offender! Christianity does not make us do things a little better than we did them before; it makes us do things we had never done, and which the world thought it impossible for us ever to do. The attention paid to Paul and Barnabas was natural, it was only exaggerated; its root is right. But the preacher must never become the priest. Paul must never separate himself from the current of human sympathy. This is the danger of all class education, of all monastic withdrawment from all human activities, with a view to becoming prepared for the ministry. The temptation to the young man's mind is this: I am not what I used to be; I now belong to a class. I have become separated from the common herd. I am different I am a priest. That is the sophism that must be burned out of the Church. The preacher is only an upper pewholder; the preacher is one of us, or he cannot preach to us. Christ could not preach from Heaven; he must needs come down and be made like us, that he might save us. It is right that Paul should be recognized and honoured and blessed as a servant of God; but he must remember that he is a servant only. The effect of Christianity is to confound all rivals. Christianity will not live in the house with any other religion. Christianity will never allow itself to be stitched to some old rag of paganism. Christianity is a seamless robe woven throughout that cannot be improved and must not be rent. When the priest of Jupiter saw what was done, he said, "We have never beheld anything like this before!" Why the man was prepared to put the knife to Jupiter's own throat. Said he, "This is unrivalled. This man has been coming backward and forward to these rites and ceremonies of ours a long while, and we could do nothing with him; here is a religion that comes and makes a man of him: this is the true faith." Christianity must vindicate itself by the men it makes not by learning, not by eloquence, but by the men it makes. Convince the priests of Jupiter, not by metaphysical reasoning, but by noble manhood.

The man "leaped and walked." You cannot leap long the law of gravitation is against that but you can walk all your lifetime. A man leaping always is beside himself; a man walking-has serious business, and he is going to do it. We cannot live in leaping, we cannot live in raptures and in tumult of soul, but we must leap at first. Those who have seen God, and have received of His strength, mount up as on the wings of eagles: then they run, then they walk. It would be pleasant to see some of us leaping a little, running a little; it would do the preacher's heart good to see some people trying to fly a little. Without enthusiasm, what is the Church? It is Vesuvius without fire; it is Niagara without water; it is the firmament without the sun.