Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest
Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest
Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest
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ACTS OF THE APOSTLES<br />
CHAPTER XIV.<br />
1-7. Arriving in Iconium, they enter the Jewish synagogue, preach with the Holy Ghost sent down<br />
from heaven, and a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks are converted to the Christhood of<br />
Jesus; meanwhile “the disciples continued to be filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.” As usual, the<br />
unbelieving Jews raise a row, stirring up an awful persecution against the apostles. Ver. 5 reads<br />
incorrectly in E.V. The assault had not been made. It was only a conspiracy to seize the apostles and<br />
first abuse them in a Sodomitish, brutal manner, and then stone them to death.<br />
6, 7. “Recognizing, they fled down into the cities of Lycaonia, i.e., Lystra and Derbe, and the<br />
surrounding country; and there they were preaching the gospel.”<br />
HEALING OF THE CRIPPLE AT LYSTRA.<br />
8-10. The imperfect tense here shows that they had been preaching some time at Lystra.<br />
Meanwhile this poor cripple, who, the Greek says, had no power to use his feet, and consequently<br />
had never walked, though now quite up in mature manhood, fortunately had friends to carry him<br />
every day to the preaching places, where he sat unnoticed by the multitude, who all knew him well;<br />
but at the same time he was a most appreciative auditor. Doubtless he was a pious Jew, already<br />
enjoying the saving grace of God in his heart, felicitously fortified against the vulgar vices all his life<br />
by his physical decrepitude. Day by day he listens to the apostles spell-bound, delectably drinking<br />
in the sweet messages of gospel grace and rejoicing in the glorious fulfillment of the Messianic<br />
promises in the advent of Jesus the Christ, whom the apostles preached. Witnessing the miracles of<br />
physical healing ever and anon wrought through the Apostolic ministry, ere long faith enters into his<br />
heart and he begins actually to take hold of Jesus, whom they were constantly preaching as the<br />
Omnipotent Healer of the body as well as the soul. Meanwhile the attention of Paul is directed to the<br />
cripple. He sees his countenance radiant with a supernatural glow and his eyes sparkling and flashing<br />
out the victories of faith wrought in his heart by the Holy Spirit through the truth to which he had<br />
listened day after day. Paul, enjoying “the discernment of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10), perceives<br />
that the cripple has faith to be healed, at the same time adding inspiration and intensification to his<br />
faith by exclaiming to the top of his voice: “Stand upright on thy feet.” “He leaped and continued<br />
to walk round and round.” The poor fellow, sitting squat like a toad, having never stood on his feet<br />
nor walked a step, under the inspiration of Paul’s stentorian voice leaps out of his nest like a frog,<br />
lighting upright on his feet, discovers at once that he is healed and all right; beginning to run round<br />
and round, he does not know when to quit. It was very inspiring to me to see the stacks of crutches<br />
and staffs in Brother Simpson’s Berachah Home in New York, and the cripples who had come there<br />
on them leaping, skipping and praising the Omnipotent Healer. I am glad the days of miracles are<br />
not past. All do not get healed, neither did they in the Apostolic age. Paul himself left Trophimus<br />
at Miletum sick; yet many were healed through his ministry on the island of Malta. Perhaps quite as<br />
large a proportion who receive the ministry of healing get actually healed as get saved under the<br />
preaching of the glorious gospel, which offers salvation free and full to every soul.