Editorial May 7, 1984 Issue

"Special miracles"

WILLIAM E. MOODY

When the early Christians were spreading the gospel, their preaching was very often attended by wonderful works of healing. Not only did the followers of Christ Jesus speak with conviction, but actual proofs of God's power and tender mercy marked their ministry with divine authority. Many people who heard these devoted workers couldn't fail to grasp the extraordinary significance of the preaching, for the spiritual vitality of the gospel message became apparent right in the listeners' own lives—as they were redeemed, made whole, healed by the Word of God.

In the first years after Jesus, there was probably no more vivid evidence of the power of God to regenerate hearts and minds than in the missionary work of the Apostle Paul. Among Jesus' followers, Paul stands out with a certain luminance, partly because of his own dramatic conversion and also because of the wide-ranging impact he had as he traveled throughout the Roman Empire shepherding the Christian Church.

With the dignity that surely came from knowing in his heart that he was standing on the side of divine Truth, Paul faced severe persecutions and was able to rise above the animosity to bring special blessings to people all along his path—from Jerusalem to Athens to the little island of Melita to Rome itself. A verse in the New Testament would seem to sum up concisely the essence of Paul's work. These words are recorded in the book of Acts: "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul."^{Acts 19:11.}

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