Acts 16:8-12 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.… It is only hearts burdened with Divine pity, and moved by Divine love, that see such visions or hear such voices as Paul saw and heard. The cold and indifferent sleep on; never hear and never see the great spirit world that wraps us close round. But we must not suppose that the Macedonians were actually hungering for the gospel. We know that they did not welcome Paul. His first sermon was preached to a few women only, and he was beaten and disregarded by the Philippians at large, and driven from their city; and when he went further south to Thessalonica, they assaulted him so furiously that he had to escape out of the city by night. And further south again in Athens they mocked him and said, "What will this babbler say?" Alas! the heathen, as a rule, do not see their darkness or feel their misery. The sheep in the wilderness, though utterly lost and in utmost peril, never seek the shepherd; it is the shepherd who has to seek the sheep. There was once an old man, diseased and worn and literally clothed in rags, who sat by the wayside begging, an object of pity: yet he never uttered a word, but simply sat there. One day a gentleman passing by was struck by his abject misery, but as no appeal was made he passed on. Yet, haunted by the man's woe-begotten appearance, he came back and said, "Are you in want?" And the old man replied, "Oh, sir! I am sick and cold and hungry." Then said the gentleman, "Why don't you beg?" And the old man, stretching out his worn, wasted hands, and looking at his rag-covered body, said, "Sir, I am begging with a thousand tongues." Yes, his misery was begging more eloquently than words. And it is thus that the heathen world is begging at the doors of the Church. It is its misery that begs; for the heathen are without God, and without hope in the world. But it is only a Christian's eye that can see that misery, and only a Christian's ear that can hear the cry. But what kind of help did the Macedonians want from Paul? and what kind of help had Paul to give them? It was — 1. Help out of their debasing idolatries and superstitions to the knowledge of the one true and living God. 2. Help out of their moral degradation to a higher and nobler life. 3. Help out of darkness and death to Christ and life. (G. Owen.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. |
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