But there is further evidence from this account to show us that faith must be present before the gifts of the Holy Spirit can be manifested, which is in the way the people reacted when this miracle took place. When the people saw this miracle performed, they declared that Paul and Barnabas were gods, and if you read the rest of the passage you will see that they wanted to sacrifice to them because they thought they were gods. The reason the people reacted like this, is because this was the first time they had seen the power of God displayed among them. And yet, this was not the first time that they had heard Paul and Barnabas preach the gospel. We know that to be the case, because when the miracle occurred they named Paul “Hermes” because he was the chief speaker, thus indicating that they had heard both Paul and Barnabas preach the gospel before, and Paul had preached on more occasions than Barnabas. And so, if that is the case, why were no gifts of the Spirit made manifest before this particular meeting? The answer is faith, for it was only on this occasion that faith was present, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself.
Michael E.B. Maher
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