Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-12

In the missionary Experiences OF
Barnabas and Paul in Iconium and
Lystra, Paul reaped what he had sowed
as a prosecutor of the followers Of the
Lord Jesus. In Iconium they preached
to large congregations in the syna-
gogue. They won many disciples from
both the Jews and the Greeks. Their
success caused division in the ranks
Of the religious people, which resulted
in more violent opposition than they
had experienced in Antioch Of Pisidia
Evidently some of their enemies in the
latter city had journeyed about 80 miles
to stir up a persecution in Iconium
Both Greeks and Jews joined in an
tagonizing the two missionaries in such
a violent opposition that they escaped
death by flight. They left the main
was "a frontier town." whose inhabi-
tants were heather. These rough.
energetic and ignorant people had not
come under the refining influence of
either the Greeks, Romans or Jews. 1t
appears to have been the most pagan
city in which Paul ever preached. They
were influenced by their old heather
religion and the crude faith Of the old
mythologies.
Crippled Healed.
Christianity stands out in the history
of the world for its effect to alleviate
human suffering, sorrow and sickness.
Paul was attracted by the evident faith
of "a certain man" who, although a
beggar, had grasped the message OF sal
walton, which the missionaries had
preached in the market place. Feeling
the urge of the Holy Spirit and observ-
ing the marks Of faith in the face OF
the crippled beggar who had suffered
with congenital infirmities so that he
had never walked and whose condition
was considered to be incurable, Paul
stopped his preaching. He spoke to the
hopeless, helpless, nearer in loud
voice, so that all might hear, ordering
him to Stand upright upon thy feet"
Immediately he obeyed and demon
stratcd his faith by leaping up and
walking before the surprised multitude.
When these excitable and emotion
able people saw the cripple, whom they
had known all his life walking back and
forth before them, they commenced to
proclaim their faith in their native
tongue that the gods, Jupiter and Mer-
curry. had visited their community. The
ancients believed that the gods frequently
visited the earth under various DISCUSSES.
There was tradition that these two
gods had visited Lycaon, the king, VINO
entertained them by setting human
flesh on the table, for which crime ne
was turned into a wolf, and again In
the beautiful legend of Baucis and
Philemon, the poor couple, who were
the only ones to receive the gods in
hospitality, and as a reward were al
lowed to die at the same time, so that
neither should survive to bemoan the
loss of the other"
Paul and Barnabas did not under
stand the native tongue of the Lycaon-
ians, so were not able to correct the
mistake of the people until they saw
the priest of the pagan temple OF Ju-
piter approaching them for the purpose
of worshiping them as gods at the
CITY gate. If they had understood the
peOple's cry they would have corrected
it then before they stopped the priest
of the pagan faith almost in the act OF
sacrificing the oxen in their honor and
decorating them with garlands. Hor-
ror stricken at the peoples mistake.
both the missionaries stripped their
clothes to the waist and rushed out
among the people in an effort to stop
their false worship. They insisted that
they were men of like passions, subject
10 JEle Same anu "NdhAASooS-''
who were missionaries appointed to per-
suade them to turn from the unreal
worship of idols and worship the ever
living God whose power they had wit
messed in the healing of the cripple.
They refused to accept any popularity
that may have resulted from their min
istry. This resulted in the tickle crowd
turning against the missionaries, so that
they joined in stoning Paul.
Paul Stoned.
The same intense hatred that had
created the spirit of persecution in An
tioch and Iconium appeared among
these heather. Their enemies had fol-
lowed them to Lystra. They took ad-
vantage of the reaction that followed
the refusal of Barnabas and Paul to be
honored as Jupiter and Mercury by
stirring them up to stone the preachers
of the Gospel. They conferred their at
tack upon Paul and having stoned him,
they dragged him out of the city, where
they left his body, believing that the
apostle was dead His enemies did not
believe that Paul was worthy of burial.
About the fallen preachers body was a
group of loyal disciples, pleading In
prayer that Paul should be restored to
them. They were surprised to see him
rise I'D and walk with them to place
of security within the city. The Lord
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