Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 6.djvu/151

Rh only, is to be worshipped; and that to him they owed all their services, from whom they received all their comforts, and therefore that they were guilty of the highest injustice and ingratitude imaginable, in alienating them from him. God, having not left himself without witness, has not left us without a guide, and so has left us without excuse; for whatever is a witness for God, is a witness against us, if we give that glory to any other which is due to him only.

1. The bounties of common providence witness to us, that there is a God, for they are all dispensed wisely and with design. The rain and fruitful seasons could not come by chance; nor are there any of the vanities of the heathen that can give rain; nor can the heavens of themselves give showers, Jer. 14. 22. All the powers of nature witness to us a sovereign power in the God of nature, from whom they are derived, and on whom they depend. It is not the heaven that gives us rain, but God that gives us rain from heaven; he is the Father of the rain, Job 38. 28.

2. The benefits we have by these bounties, witness to us, that we ought to make our acknowledgments not to the creatures who are made serviceable to us, but to the Creator who makes them so; He left not himself without witness, in that he did good. God seems to reckon the instances of his goodness to be more pregnant, cogent proofs of his title to our homage and adoration, than the evidences of his greatness; for his goodness is his glory. The earth is full of his goodness; his tender mercies are over all his works; and therefore they praise him, Ps. 145. 9, 10. God does us good, in preserving to us his air to breathe in, his ground to go upon, the light of his sun to see by; but, because the most sensible instance of the goodness of Providence to each of us in particular, is that of the daily provision made by it of meat and drink for us, the apostle chooses to insist upon that, and shews how God does us good; (1.) In preparing it for us, and that by a long train of causes which depend upon him as the first Cause; The heavens hear the earth; the earth hears the corn, and wine, and oil; and they hear Jezreel, Hos. 2. 21, 22. He does us good in giving us rain from heaven; rain for us to drink; for if there were no rain, there would be no springs of water, and we should soon die for thirst; rain for our land to drink, for our meat as well as drink we have from the rain; in giving us that, he ''gives us fruitful seasons. If the heavens be as iron, the earth will soon be as brass'', Lev. 26. 19. That is the river of God which greatly enriches the earth, and by it God prepares us corn, Ps. 65. 9—11. Of all the common operations of providence, the heathen chose to form their notion of the supreme God by that which speaks terror, and is proper to strike an awe of him upon us, and that was the thunder; and therefore they called Jupiter the thunderer, and represented him with a thunderbolt in his hand; and it appears by Ps. 29. 3. that that ought not to be overlooked; but the apostle here, to engage us to worship God, sets before us his beneficence, that we may have good thoughts of him in every thing wherein we have to do with him; may love him and delight in him, as one that doeth good, doeth good to us, doeth good to all, in giving rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons; and if at any time rain be withheld, or the seasons unfruitful, we may thank ourselves, it is our sin that turns away these good things from us which were coming to us, and stops the current of God's favours. (2.) In giving us the comforts of it; it is he that fills our hearts with food and gladness. God is rich in mercy to all, (Rom. 10. 12.) he gives us richly all things to enjoy; (1 Tim. 6. 17.) is not only a Benefactor, but a bountiful one: not only gives us the things we need, but gives us to enjoy them; (Eccl. 2. 24.) he fills our hearts with food, he gives us food to our hearts' content, or according to our hearts' desire; not merely for necessity, but plenty, dainty, and variety. Even those nations that had lost the knowledge of him, and worshipped other gods, yet he filled their houses, filled their mouths, filled their bellies, (Job 22. 18. Ps. 17. 14.) ''with good things. The Gentiles that lived without God in the world, yet lived upon God; which Christ urges as a reason why we should do good to those that hate us'', Matt 5. 44, 45. Those heathen had their hearts filled with food, that was their felicity and satisfaction, they desired no more; but these things will not fill the soul, (Ezek. 7. 19.) nor will those that know how to value their own souls, be satisfied with them; but the apostles put themselves in as sharers in the divine beneficence; we must all own that God fills our hearts with food and gladness; not only food, that we may live, but gladness, that we may live cheerfully; to him we owe it that we do not all our days eat in sorrow. Note, We must thank God, not only for our food, but for our gladness; that he gives us leave to be cheerful, cause to be cheerful, and hearts to be cheerful: And if our hearts be filled with food and gladness, they ought to be filled with love and thankfulness, and enlarged in duty and obedience, Deut. 8. 10.—28. 47.

Lastly, The success of this prohibition which the apostles gave to the people; (v. 18.) By these sayings, with much ado, they restrained the people from doing sacrifice to them; so strongly were idolaters set upon their idolatry! It was not enough for the apostles to refuse to be deified, (that would be construed only a pang of modesty,) but they resent it, they shew them the evil of it, and all little enough, for they scarce restrained them from it; and some of them, were ready to blame the priest, that he did not go on with his business notwithstanding. We may see here, what gave rise to the pagan idolatry; it was, terminating those regards in the instruments of our comfort, which should have passed through them to the Author. Paul and Barnabas have cured a cripple, and therefore they deified them, instead of glorifying God for giving them such power; which should make us very cautious that we do not either give that honour to another, or take it to ourselves, which is due to God only.

19. And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and. had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22. Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 23. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. 24. And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25. And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went