Footnotes: 1. See Paul's sermon, Acts 13:14-41. LESSON 27 FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY--Continued AT LYSTRA AND DERBE "Outward attacks and troubles rather fix than unsettle the Christian, as tempests from without only serve to root the oak more firmly in the ground." "As sure as ever God puts His children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them." [Sidenote: Among the Heathen.] At Lystra, Paul and Barnabas found a people who were almost entirely heathen for they worshiped Jupiter and Mercury and other false deities, and knew little or nothing about the true God. There were Jews amongst them, but not of sufficient numbers even to build a synagogue. The country was wild and rugged, and the inhabitants were like the country. They were "villagers of little learning, and rude in dress and manner." Such people are usually shy of strangers, and slow to accept anything new. But once they begin to get confidence in the stranger, they may be easily swayed by him; not having very definite opinions of their own. The doctrine preached by Paul and Barnabas was new to them, and after a time began to arouse their curiosity, and then awaken their interest. [Sidenote: Choice People Among Them.] Some of the most intelligent comprehended the truth, and accepted it. Lest you boys and girls might think that there were no superior people among these heathens, you must be reminded of the fact that in Lystra there was at least one choice family of whose membership in the Church the Bible makes mention, and in Derbe there were others. [Sidenote: Timothy.] In these towns, out of the persecution and affliction heaped upon them by the ignorant and wicked, Paul and Barnabas brought to the faith some of the choicest members of the early Church. Among these were Timothy, whom Paul afterwards called his son; Eunice, Timothy's mother, and Lois, Timothy's grandmother, whose "unfeigned faith" Paul commended in later years. Undoubtedly, the friendship alone of these noble people more than paid Paul for all the persecution he suffered during this first mission. But to the people generally, the message was strange and incomprehensisble. They could not separate the doctrine of Christ from their heathen deities as was shown by a remarkable experience. [Sidenote: A Miracle.] Paul and Barnabas and a few converts were holding a meeting one day in the "open air." In the audience sat a man "impotent in his feet," who had been a cripple from birth, and who had never walked. This fact, of course, all the people knew, for many of them were acquainted with him, and had seen him carried to the meeting. "The same heard Paul speak," and conviction entered his weary heart that what Paul said was true. Paul looked at him, and "perceiving that he had faith to be healed," said, "Stand upright on thy feet." This he commanded by the power of the Redeemer. [Sidenote: Effect.]