Devotion for Tuesday (3rd Week after Trinity Sunday) 12 July 2011 Anno Domini

Devotion for Tuesday (3rd Week after Trinity Sunday) 12 July 2011 Anno Domini
“8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: 9The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.” (Acts 14:8-18)
“And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.” This is a seeming casual coincidence that the man sat where he sat at the time most advantageous. He heard the powerful preaching of Paul and realized it to be from a true minister of God. If God could speak through this man (Paul) perhaps that God could heal as well; however, perhaps out of courtesy or fear, he said not a word! “The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed.” Paul, being informed by an ever-presence of the Holy Ghost, looked on this crippled man and saw faith reflected in his eyes. Do our eyes also reflect a strong faith in the power of God? Paul reckoned that this crippled man had the faith to be healed!
Paul issues a fairly simple to understand command, echoed to him from the Holy Ghost. And Paul: “Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.” Now, is it possible that the man suffered from impaired hearing as well? Paul had only asked him to “stand up,” but, instead, the man not only stands up, but leaps and walks. I can tell you for a surety, the man was not impaired in his hearing – he was inspired by healing and the mercy of God!
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.”Men who know not the voice of the Holy Ghost often draw the wrong conclusions from their unlearned observation. Paul was certainly not God. These men were of seemingly low sophistication and maybe steeped in superstition. But they unwittingly got one thing right even if they knew not what they had said: God did, indeed, come down to man in the form of a precious child of Mary the blessed Virgin at Bethlehem. He came in the form and likeness of a man, but was also the very issue of God the Father and, as we know, God Himself.
“And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.” Barnbabas appeared to them to be Jupiter for his commanding presence; and Paul seemed to them Mercury, the god of eloquence (to them) and a messenger. I would deign to say that these poor people certainly meant no offense to the sovereign God, but were trying to compliment the apostles.
“Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.” There was, most likely, an edifice erected to Jupiter without the gates of the city so that Jupiter was their premier idol. Now the priests of this false god will bring spoils of offerings to the apostles. They would furthermore have made sacrifices along with the people. This was abject error. I can say, with a high margin of confidence, that many false evangelists and pulpit vipers of our own day would cherish the offering of sacrifices to themselves as if they were gods – but NOT Barnabas and Paul!
“Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.”It was customary for a Godly minister to rend his garments at the utterance of blasphemy. “We are also men of like passions with you!” We are only men and no more. Christ was at once man and God. He was the only One out of all time and Eternity that possessed in equal measure the characteristics of both God and man – and He was the only One that walked sinlessly through His thirty three years upon the earth! He was Creator, as well as Redeemer. He had allowed man to attempt to be obedient to the Law as a school teacher to them and a foreshadowing of that fuller salvation made perfect in Him which, to them, was future promise.
“Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Actually, the entire Creation - from stormy seas to lush rainforest, from the beauty of the sunrise to the charm of the nightingale, from the birth of a child to gift of art – all are testimony to the Person of Christ. If our hearts are united in Christ, they shall also be filled with gladness and never lack of food or the necessities of life. Why can man not grasp this as the point has been proven too many times to doubt? Though the heathen are without a full witness of the Word, they, nonetheless, have the evidence of His Godhead represented in the marvelous testimony of all that is in nature and that is natural to our eyes.
“And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.” Though Godly ministers, called and sent, preach the Gospel with power, man will always seek to place his own stamp of workmanship of God’s will where it is not a trifling acceptable. Superstitions and the traditions of men have crept in to most churches, and it has marched under a proud banner into the Church at Rome. They have adopted many of the filthy rags of paganism and the proud rule of a mere man to be their own answer to the complete Will of God. Better to shed ourselves of such worldly accoutrements and return to God’s Word alone as our rule of practice and worship in faith. There is no substitute, no efficacious seasoning, no additive acceptable, to the Word of God. It stands alone pure and undefiled by the fingerprints of man!