The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 299

ahould "multiply," grow in numbers and in the extent of ground it covers; (2) become more beo.utiful in aspect; (3) acquire incr888ing etrength.-O. Vore. 82-43.-The miraculous and the supernatl/,f'al, In these verses we have two instances of the miraculous; and wo may consider what was the worth of that element then, and why it has passed away; we may also consider the truth that the supernatural-the directly though not visibly Divine-still abides and will continually endure. I. THE RATIONALE OF THE CHRISTIAN MIRACLE, wrought in the apostolic age. Then it was (or seems to us to have been) necessary. 1. It was regarded as of the very essence of a new Divine system. Any doctrine which was to supersede the Law and which did not carry with it the credentials of "wonderful works," would have' had no prospect or possibility of success. 2. It was a power of great potency in the a"e in which it was granted. Witness the text, among many others: "All that dwelt ~t Lydda and Saron . . . turned to the Lord" (ver. 35); "It was known throughout all J oppa; and many believed in the Lord " ( ver. 42). 8. The early Church had to struggle against fearful odds, and might well be strengthened with a special and exceptional force. It had to contend with inveterate and all but impregnable prejudices, with powerful material interests, with worldly wisdom, with crushing political powers arrayed against it with drawn sword; it was a handful of weak men and women, destitute of resources, "unlearned and ignorant," against a world in arms, against many millions inflamed with passionate hatred or filled with supercilious contempt. At such a. stage it might well be reinforced with such help as the miraculous would yield it. II. THE EXPLANATION OF ITS DISCONTINUANCE. It was a power, very valuable when wisely used, but liable to great abuse. The time might soon come when its presence would be harmful rather than helpful, when Christian men would be disposed to rely on the marvellous rather than the spiritual. That time did come, and it came earlier than we might have thought (see 1 Corinthians). Therefore it was mercifully with- drawn. Its continuance would only have been to leave in the Church's hand a. weapon by which it would have wounded itself. III. 1TB NEEDLESSNESS NOW, Now we should be able to dispense with such adventitious aid. 1. The wealth, the culture, the political power, the resources which give strength to human societies, are now on the side of Christian truth. 2. We are equipped with one weapon in particular which serves us instead of the miraculous- scientific knowledge and skill. • The principal wonders which the apostles wrought were· works of healing or restoring, like that of healing 2Eneas (ver. 34) and that of restoring Dorcas (vers. 40, 41). Now we are able to go to the heathen, with the Bible in one hand and the pharroacopceia in the other, and thus we can impress, heal, and win them. The medical missionary of the nineteenth century is as well furnished for his beneficent work as the Corinthian Christian of the first. IV. THE ABIDING PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE. 1. A power, distinctively Divine, still brings the dead to life. A more wonderful and far more blessed work is wrought when, to a soul "dead in trespasses and sins," Christ now says, "Arise," and it "opeUB its eyes" (vcr. 40) to see light in God's light, to behold the truth in its excellency and power. More wonderful, because it is a greater work to revive a dead spirit than to resuscitate a dead body-the one act is in the kingdom of the moral, the other of the mechanical; more blessed, for eternal life is an inestimably greater boon to impart than tho prolongation for a few years of earthly existence. Dorcas had to die ngain and be again bewailed. 2. A power, directly aud positively Divine, still confers spiritual health on those who have been spiritually paralyzecl. By his renewing power, by the touch of his own reviving hand, "Jesus Christ makes whole" (ver. 34) thoso who have been lethargic, indifferent, worldly, idle; and they arise.-C. Vere. 1-8.-Saulon hiswaytoDamascus. I. T~ PICTURE OF THE PERSECUTOR. It is almost the picture of a monster. It resombles the 1clea of tho fearful dragon-monster, which breathes forth smoke and flame, and threatens to devour the sun aud moon and stars. Saul is inspired by a murderous feeling against the disciple~ of Chri_st.. lie himsell afterwards recognized that to peraeoute them was to persecute him (1 T1m.1. 13). Zeal  296 THE ACTS OF TRE APOSTLES. [cir. n:.1-48.