The Coolidge examiner., 1936-09-04

pened in Lystra.
JUNIOR TOPIC-When the Gospel
Came to Lystra.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOPIC - Trials and Triumphs of
Missionaries.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-Christianit Facing Other
Religions.
The progress of the first mis-
sionary journey into gentle terri
tory had brought Paul and Bar
nabas from Cyprus to Antioch of
Pisidia in Asia Minor, where Paul
preached with great power. Per-
secution by leading Jews then led
them to go on to Iconium where
they tarried for long time preach
ing 1.-The word of grace" in the
face of many difficulties. Next
they came to Lystra, in which city
we consider first the experiences
of
I. The Messengers (Acts 14:8-13,
10, 2O.
They were Immediately faced
with the case of man crippled
from birth outWardly hopeless,
but having that inward faith which
Paul at once recognized. He
speaks, and God works in mighty
l. Power wv. 8-10).
Faith releases the unlimited
power of an infinite God. 1t did
in Lystra almost nineteen hundred
years ago. 1t does today wherever
men believe God. The miracle of
healing which took place created
a sensation which resulted in great
2. Popularity (vv. lib.
The heather people were looking
for an incarnation of their gods.
The supreme god in their mythol-
ogy was Jupiter, and his chief
attendant was Mercury. In Paul
and Barnabas they thought they
saw these two gods, and began to
give them acclaim and honor.
The flesh loves popularity. Few
temptations are so appealing and
so treacherous to the Christian
worker as a desire for popularity.
Paul and Barnabas might have
argued that such public esteem
would help them in their later proc
lamation of the gospel. Or they
might have fallen into the specious
fallacy of those who say that the
approach to the heather is by way
of an appreciation of their reli-
gions, and by an adaptation of gos-
pei truth to their PHILOSOPHERS.
True servants of God like Paul
and Barnabas were not to be mis-
led into either of these pitfalls.
They vehemently turn away the
false popularity and earnestly urge
the people to turn from these
vanities to the living God" Such
faithful and self-denying witness to
the gospel is greatly needed in our
day, and, alas, is none too COM
mon.
There followed at once a star
ting change in the attitude of the
people. The fanatical gentiles are
joined and stirred up by equally
fanatical Jews who had followed
the missionaries, and we soon find
them meeting
3. Persecution wv. 19, 20).
Fickle and short-lived Is popu-
larity with men. Let us labor to
please God rather than men.
Paul was stoned and left for
dead. But God had not forgotten
him. He never forsakeS his own.
1t is believed by many that even
while being stoned and near to
death, Paul was having the expe-
rience which no other man ever
had, and which he describes in
II Cor. 1925. Be that as It may,
God miraculously brings him to
life and full vigor at once, and the
messengers go on their way to
Derbe. AS they continue their
ministry we turn aside for a
glimpse into one of PauPs epistles
to consider
ii. The Message Rom. 10:8-15).
The carrier of message is i'm
portant, but of far greater import
is the message that he carries.
The word which Paul preached,
and which you and I must teach
and preach if we are faithful to
our calling, is 'the word of faith"
It is the glorious good news that
"Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall ue saved"
Reader, have you called on his
name? Have you admitted your
need of salvation, and in your
earnest desire to be saved have
you abandoned every trust in self
righteousness or sef-improvement
and believed on him in your heart
as your personal Saviour? If not,
Nov is the day of salvation" If
you have, it is your privilege and
your duty to confess him with
the mouth" telling everywhere by
faithful life and testimony that