The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-11
What the Church
Doing.
WHEN MEN SEEMED AS GODS.
International Sunday school Les
son for May Is is "PauIS First
MissiOnar. Journey-IcOnium and
Lystra." Acts II: 1-2S.
(By William T. ElliS.)

lNSlAN \
CBy William T. Ellis.)
Whenever a traveller returns from
heroic deeds in far countries great
lnultitudeS turn out to acclaim hlm.
Lieutenant Shackleton, who has been
.'farthest South will find himself the
lion of the day When he gets back to
ondOn Humanity ~instinctively pays
tribute to the hero. PauIs heroisms
ave done more to popularize him
thar his theology. There was a
man." is the spontaneous tribute which
springs TO the lips OF. every careful
reader OF these early narratives Of
Paul's j~ourneying. H~ardships We're
accepted as a part Of the days work.
The trayeler-preaeher's ~equaniImity
could not be seriously disturbed
whether he was hailed as a god or
stoned as q hereto. Incidentally it
may be remarked, he was stoned Of
rener than he was apotheosiZed.
Driven from Antioch to Pisidia, the
disciples, not n whit discouraged,
nut, as the narrative pointedly re-
marks, filled with joy" went on their
wa to Iconiuln. There again they
created q sensation. The city was
turned upside down. A great multi
tude of Jews and Greeks entered upon
the Way. Here again blind bigotry
and sectarianism set to work. Boldly
the disciples set to work and Won
drously they wrought. But the Jew
ish ecclesiastical party soon found it
self in command Of a sufficient mob,
and the Christians were toned out of
the city.
Now history judges Iconium chiefly
by it's attitude towards the prophets
whom it stoned. Well does Carlyle say:
The most significant feature in the
history OF an epoch is the manner it
has in welcoming q great man. Wheth-
er they shall take him to be u god. or
TO be q prophet. or what they shall
take him to be: by their way OF aVoW-
ing they shall take hin to be:
by their way Of answering that we
shall see before us a little window
into the very heart of these mems.
spiritual condition"
The Religion Makes Men
Straight.
Moving on to Lystra, when driven
from Iconium, the disciples continued
the same sort of Work that they had
been doing previously, in spite of the
opposition In connection with this
visit a characteristic incident is relat-
ed by the historian. In Lystra there
was a Well-knoWn beggar, cOngenital-
~ lame. He was a town character.
vet he seems, unlike some modern
Inendicants. to have desired relief
from his affliction. Paul's alert eye
singled him out. PerceiVlng the
nan'S eagerneSS and responsiveness,
and hat he had the faith to be heal
ed, Paul said with a loud voice,
Stand upright upon thy feet" and he
leaped up and walked.
The Gospel had been doing this sort
IF thing right along for mems minds.
as well as for their legs. The cripples
whose bones are abnormal are not
half SO serious q burden upon society
as. those whose spirits are twisted,
bent and weak. Very much more
than it needs q gospel for the sick and
the lame and the blind and the deaf.
the world needs a gospel that will
take the spiritual cripple and make
him stand erect and walk. There are
many surgeons who can ~straighten
out the kinks in backs n limbs; but
only the Great Physician can make
men straight in their souls. That is
the miracle of larger meaning which
may be seen daily in almost every
community in the land.
Squirting High HOnGrs.
The healing of the lame man prov
I'd the sensation of the hour in Lystra
The tickle crowd vas caught in its inn
aglnatlon by this spectacular perform
anCe. Moved by the excitement Of the
occasion, and reverting TO their ma
tive mother tongue. the populace
shouted the gods have come down to
Us in the likeness of men," Barnabas
they named Jupiter, and Paul Mer-
curry.
If these eyangelists had been as
modern and progressive as some later
ones, they would have sent a special
messenger back to Antioch with the
tory concerning the high honors that
had come to them. Their press agents
would have been busy ~recounting their
greatness, inaslnuch as they had been
halied as the ancient gods r~eincar-
uated.
For the tribute was an extraordi-
nary one. Possibly the incident of the
meaning OF the lame man occurred at
.he gate OF the temple. The priest az
5uplter, eager to take advantoga of
erytnlns that would favor his tenn
1 -. ana MS trade, brought oxen ana
q 40 70 the apostles. and wo,1l6
'aNe done sacrifices. the ~,ou,u