The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 194

which can ba affocted and relieved by the strong will and -faith of a fcllow-crcatnre. Ilut it is difficult for us to recognize the properly miraculous character of such cures. w· e may consider- I. H1,ALINOB ALONE. God has provi?cd in nature sufficient and efficient healing agents for all man's diseases. He has given_ t_o so~e among men healing skill, to be used in the service of others. No nobler rnm1stry 1s entrusted to men than that of healin". A vast and almost overwhelming mass of human sufferin"' calls for the healer~ art. Though so~e ~orms of b?dily disease ~re bey_ond human c~re, fe1v, if any, are out of the reach of rehevmg agencies. Apostolic healrngs materially diITercd from those of the ordinary doctor. 1. They were immediate. 2. They were without the nse of medicinal a"'encies. 3. They were complete, without peril of any return of the disease. 4. They were wrought by spiritual power-and that not the apostles' own, only operating through them-reaching_ t_he very ~pri?gs_ of vitality and giving new life. How such heatings illustrate the D1vme work In Bin-s1ck souls may be fully shown. II. HEALINGB WITH TEACHINOS. '!'his was the special feature of the apostolic ministrv. The end was not reached when a suffering man was cured; that was but the means to a further and higher end, even that soul-healing which comes by the reception of Christ the Saviour, whom apostles taught. Illustrate how medical missions are made the agency for winning the attention of the heathen to the gospel message. Point out what a.re the particular points of spiritual teaching which gain effective illustration from bodily heatings; e.g. : 1. The assertion of a necessary relation bet1rnen sin and suffering. Suffering is no accident, no mere calamity; it is the divinely appointed fruitage and consequence of sin. It is designed to fix the character of sin, to give men conviction through feeling, vision, and sympathy, of the evil of sin. When more clearly understood, suffering is seen to be the corrective agency through which man may be delivered from sin. 2. 'l'he assertion of the Divine relation to suffering. God does not pass aside of the diseased or disabled ; every day be is working gracious works in sick-rooms and hospitals. Of this bis constant work Jesus gave full illustrations in his miracles, when be came to "show us the Father; n and of this apostles renewed the assurance when they healed, in Christ's Name, all the sick and suffering ones that were brought unto them. 3, The consequent assertion of the Divine relation to sin. God would not concern himself with the mere effects; we may be quite sure that he deals with the cause. The great Physician is concerned about our sin. He would not that any of us should perish in our sins. And, therefore, when the apostles healed a sufferer they preached unto him Jesus, who is precisely this, "God saving men from their sins."-R. T.