II.THE PULPIT: the stairs to the Roman barracks.

III.THE DEACONS WHO CONDUCTED HIM: the soldiers.

IV.THE PSALMS WHICH PRECEDED THE DISCOURSE: murderous outcries.

V.THE CONGREGATION: an excited people.

VI.THE ANOINTING WHICH HE BRINGS ALONG WITH HIM: the Spirit of the Lord, as a Spirit of faith, love, wisdom, and strength.

(K. Gerok.)

2. We ought to consider in the best light even the acts of enemies (ver. 3).

3. Prayers are often answered in ways we least expect. Not only are our greatest joys, but our keenest disappointments, experienced in Divine communion. Paul wished first to be an apostle to Jews. Even devotions must cease when the demands of duty are urgent. It is well to carry the zeal and consecration acquired in prayer into life and action. There are many tasks for which we are unprepared until we have been fired by devotion (vers. 17, 18).

4. Men are not always the best judges as to how, when, and where they shall do the most good (vers. 19, 20).

5. The distant purposes and preparations of Christianity prove its Divine character and power (ver. 21).

6. Where there is conscious rectitude, a narrative of facts is the best defence.

7. The hardness of the heart is as supernatural as its conversion.

(A. F. Muir, M. A.)

1. Avows himself a Jew by birth and education (ver. 3).

2. Describes his persecuting zeal against the Christians (vers. 4-6).

3. Narrates his miraculous conversion (vers. 6-10).

4. Shows how his reception into the new body was by Jewish agency (vers. 12-16).

5. Gives an account of his apostleship among the Gentiles (vers. 17-21). In the address note that —

I. SELF IS CRIMINATED. Not one word is uttered in vindication of his conduct prior to conversion; on the contrary, he paints it in the darkest colours. What can any man discover in his history before conversion on which he can look with complacency?

II. CHRIST IS HONOURED.

1. His conversion is ascribed to Him as it always is.

2. His commission is ascribed to Him; Christ became everything to the apostle after his conversion.

III. CONVERSION IS MEMORABLE. Twenty-five years had passed away, and yet the incidents were fresh. So it is in all genuine cases of conversion.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

1. With grateful remembrance of human benefactors (ver. 3).

2. With penitent confession of his own erroneous ways.

3. With humble praise of the Divine gracious dealings (ver. 6-16).

4. With clear consciousness of his life's call (vers. 18-21).

(K. Gerok.)

I. PAUL PERSECUTING JESUS. For in persecuting the disciples, he really persecuted their Lord. He persecuted —

1. Intelligently. When this hated sect was broken up in Jerusalem after the martyrdom of Stephen, he saw in a moment that the scattered fragments must be annihilated before victory was complete. In this he showed the true genius of a general. So he deliberately laid his plans to harass the scattered bands of disciples.

2. Relentlessly. All women as well as men who loved Jesus, Paul hated. He gave no quarter to any. Nothing short of Stephen's death would satisfy his bloodthirsty soul. Extermination is the goal which he means to reach.

3. Consecratedly. He gave himself to this work; not his means or his thoughts only, but himself. He scorned working by proxy. How the ecclesiastics in Jerusalem must have loved him! How the Christians must have dreaded him, even as the Saracens dreaded Richard the Lion-hearted.

II. PAUL PROSTRATE BEFORE JESUS. Yes, in the very dust, on the way to Damascus. Yes, before the very Jesus, whom with all his soul he had hated. In an instant all his cherished plans were dissipated, and he cries, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do"? Humanly speaking, the history of the world was more changed by that incident than by any of the "decisive battles of the world." We love to tell of Platea, Thermopylae, Marathon, Tours, Waterloo, and Gettysburg, but all of these have not exerted so great an influence as this battle of Jesus with Paul his enemy. It lasted but a moment, and the Pharisee was conquered once and for all. Note: Certain sceptics explain this occurrence by Paul's having been sunstruck, and that he mistook the blinding light of the sun for a Divine appearance. To which we answer, that if a sunstroke can make such preachers we had better close our theological seminaries, and set all their students out under a boiling sun. Such criticism is on a par with that of the German commentator, who says that when Jesus said to Martha, "But one thing is needful," He meant, "Don't cook too much, we really need only one dish."

III. PAUL PRAYING TO JESUS. When a man falls prostrate before Jesus, it will not be long before he begins to pray (Acts 9:11). In this prayer he evidently asked for guidance as to what he could do for Jesus. A good prayer that for a young convert. Too many merely ask for pardon, and stop. Paul also asked for orders.

(A. F. Schauffler.)

2. We wondered how the old story of the conversion was bearing the wear and tear of apostolic life; the answer is before us. Having gone down into the city and into the wilderness, and over the sea; having been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, the apostle ends just where he began: by telling the simple experience of his own soul. The story is just the same. Sometimes imagination plays havoc with memory; and throws its own colour upon the simplest facts of early life, and we begin to regard those facts as a dream. This is particularly the case with the religious imagination; it leads us to disown our early selves, to regard our first prayers as passionate and sentimental rather than as sober and vital. It is interesting, therefore, to find that Paul, after all the manifold experience of a missionary's life, repeats the old story exactly as it occurred in the early part of his life. Paul laced and kept both his feet on the rock of facts which had occurred in his own knowledge.

3. Christianity is not to be defended by mere argument, by the able use of elegant terms and subtle phrases; it does not challenge the world to a battle of opinions. Christianity is an incarnation; it stands up in its own living men, and says, "This is my work; the controversy which I have with the world is this: produce your men and I will produce mine." The tree is known by its fruit. If the Church would stand firmly to this one point, there need be no controversy. If in an unfortunate mood you refer to some other man's case, you may be perplexed by some cross inquiry as to the order of the facts; but if you keep to your own self there is no answer.

4. The recital Paul called his "defence." The defence of Christianity is not a book but a man — not an argument but a life. Of course we shall be told about the shortcomings of Christians. So be it; and still the truth remains that Christians are the defence of Christianity. You tell me that London is a healthy city! Come with me to the hospitals and I will show you every disease known in this climate. Come with me from house to house, and in nearly everyone I will find you someone sick. That kind of argument would not be admitted on sanitary questions; yet the very men who would probably reject it upon the ground of a physical kind, might be tempted to use it in relation to Christians. There are sick Christians, Christian cripples; and yet it remains true that even the weakest Christian may have about him the peculiar sign manual of heaven.

5. Here, then, is the plain line along which we must move when called upon for our defence. "Men, brethren, and fathers," says some poor old mother in the Church, "hear ye my defence. I was left in difficulty and trouble and sorrow; I knew not where to turn: I sat down and felt the pain of utter helplessness, when suddenly I heard a voice saying unto me, 'Pray to thy Father in heaven.' I never had prayed just in the right way; but, at that moment, my eye brightened with hope, and I fell down, and asked the Lord to show me what He would have me to do. Suddenly there was a great light around me, and a hand took hold of mine, and ever since I have felt that I am not an orphan, but under fatherly superintendence." Sweet old mother! sit down; the philosophers can never answer that. Have you no tale to tell about the dark and friendless days; the sudden suggestion that stirred the mind; the inspiration like a flash of light at midnight; the key which has unlocked every gate ever since? Stand up and tell your tale. Let me not hear your opinions and views and speculations — keep them to yourself; but when we call for your defence read out of the pages of your heart. Herein is the secret of ardent preaching.

6. A converted man is one who is completely turned right round in every act, motive, impulse, and purpose; one who was travelling east, but is now marching straight towards the west. You could tell what turned you round — it was a death, a grief, a reading of the Book, a sermon, a singular providence, the hearing of a hymn, the touch of a child, the feeling of an inward agony. That is your defence; it is not mine; it is not another man's, probably. Every man has his own view of God, his own conception of the Cross.

7. We want more personal experience in the Church. Herein the idea of some Christian communions is sound: that we should meet one another periodically, and audibly say what God has done for the soul. And, judging by apostolic history and precedent, nothing is so convincing, so satisfactory, as for the soul to tell its own story, in its own words, and when the soul does that, the best of all sermons will be preached. Each can say, who has known Christ's ministry in the soul, "Once I was blind; now I see."

(J. Parker, D. D.)

(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

(Apostolic Pastor.)

(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

(J. Stalker, D. D.)

II. ITS CRITERIA.

1. Not.(1) The object. There can indeed be no holy zeal for sin or error; but there may be an unholy zeal for God and truth, as was the case with Saul.(2) The energy, or the self-denial and exertions to which it leads: Many unholy men are exceedingly fervid and self-sacrificing.

2. But —(1) The source.(a) The source of false zeal is either some selfish interest, as in the ease of the Jews, the Romanists, etc.; or party spirit, national feeling, esprit de corps; or false doctrine, hatred of the truth.(b) The source of true zeal — i.e., as a Christian grace — is the Holy Spirit, as the Author of all good, together with spiritual apprehension of the excellence of its object, whether God, truth, or the Church.(2) The concomitants and effects.(a) False zeal is malignant; true is benevolent. The one is the fervour of the unrenewed; the other of the renewed mind — as illustrated by Jesus and the Jews.(b) False zeal is proud; true is humble. The one arises from a sense of superiority which it seeks to assert and vindicate; the other from such views of God and things Divine as tend to produce humility.(c) False zeal is irreverent; true is reverent.(d) True zeal is connected with a holy life.

III. ITS OBLIGATION. It is demanded by —

1. The infinite importance of the interests at stake — the glory of God, the progress of truth, the salvation of men. To be unconcerned about these is the greatest sin and peril. God therefore declares His special abhorrence of the cold and lukewarm.

2. Our relations to God and Christ. A child is zealous for its father, a subject for his sovereign, a soldier for his commander, a captive for his redeemer.

3. The fact that zeal is a chief source of spiritual power. This qualification in the absence of others can accomplish wonders.

IV. THE MEANS OF ITS CULTIVATION.

1. Avoid all pretence and affectation; all expression of more interest than you feel.

2. Gather warmth by continual intercourse with God, and cherish the influence of His Spirit.

3. Keep your minds filled with the subjects about which you should be zealous, and your attention devoted to them.

4. Remember that zeal being a gift of the Spirit, whatever grieves Him quenches our zeal.

(C. Hodge, D. D.)

(G. H. James.)

1. Energy is a splendid trait in any man's character. It is great, and we love what is great. It is a grand thing to look upon the mighty sea, when the waves rise mountains high, and the great ocean breast is stirred with the wild commotion of the storm. There seems to be such Divine energy in it, and our hearts are filled with wonder and with awe as we gaze upon it. It makes us think of God. And it is a grand thing to see in a fellow man something of this great force of doing; a great soul full of active energy. We watch such a man battling his way through the host of opposing forces, overcoming every obstacle, trampling down every difficulty, until he reaches the point towards which he was striving. "There is energy," we say; and we admire it from our hearts. We can never admire a man who altogether lacks this force of character; who is idle and listless; who never seems to have a definite object in view; who is never struggling for anything.

2. A distinction must be drawn between lovable energy and unlovable noise and show. Intense energy is often intensely quiet.

3. And so, although it is a splendid thing to have energy of character, it is withal a very dangerous thing.

4. See the unutterable importance for energetic souls of wise and holy guidance during their early years.

5. Think, too, how sad must be the closing days of a man of strong character who has never yielded himself to God.

II. GOD'S METHOD OF CONVERTING SAUL'S MISDIRECTED ENERGY. He was converted by —

1. A vision of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:8).

2. Hearing the voice of Jesus.

III. THE ENERGETIC SOUL'S INQUIRY AFTER HIS CONVERSION — "What shall I do, Lord?"

(J. Kirk Pike.)

(Apostolic Pastor.)

1. The dark ways of sin which we have traversed.

2. The blessed ways of grace by which the Lord has come to us.

3. The Christian ways of duty in which we are to walk in the strength of the Lord.

(K. Gerok.)Paul's vision near Damascus: —

I. THE MATERIAL AND EXTERNAL.

1. The great light.

2. The appearance of Jesus Christ.

3. The voice that spoke.

II. THE INTERNAL AND SPIRITUAL.

1. The cardinal truth announced — "I am Jesus Christ," etc. The solemn remonstrance — "Why persecutest thou Me?" Paul had certain qualifications to be an excellent persecutor.

(1)Personal respectability.

(2)Learning and youth.

(3)Religious zeal.

III. THE APPOINTMENT TO A GRAND COMMISSION. To be —

1. An apostle.

2. A teacher.

(Caleb Morris.)

I. THAT MAN IS THE OBJECT OF DIVINE INSPECTION. Though Christ was now in heaven, yet His eye followed Saul. Little did Saul know that He whose name he endeavoured to blot from the earth not only marked his every footstep, but saw his every passing thought and feeling. That God knows all about man individually is obvious —

1. From His omniscience. He who sees all things, see each thing — the minute as well as the vast.

2. From history. Hagar in the wilderness, Jacob at Bethel, Elijah in the cave, and now Saul on his way to Damascus.

3. From the teachings of the Bible (Psalm 139; Proverbs 15:3; Hebrews 4:13). This solemn fact should make us serious, circumspect, devout.

II. THAT CHRIST IS THE ORIGINATOR OF MORAL REFORMATION. What now gave the turning point to Paul's life? The manifestation of Christ in the "light," the "voice," the address. Conversion does not originate with self; nor with the agency of man outside, but always with Christ. It is a resurrection. Who can raise the dead but He? It is a creation. Who can create but He? This fact agrees —

1. With the consciousness of the good. The good everywhere ascribe their goodness to Him. This is the burden of heaven's anthem.

2. With the teachings of Scripture. "Of His own will begat He us," etc. "When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me," etc.

III. THAT HUMILITY IS THE CONDITION OF HEAVENLY COMMUNION. Saul heard the voice of Jesus when he had fallen to the ground. Humility implies a deep sense of need, and without that the soul will never open its eye or ear to the Divine. We must take off the shoes from our feet, like Moses — fall to the dust, like Isaiah — smite our breast, like the publican, if we would hear what God has to say. "Unto that man will I look who is of a broken spirit," etc.

IV. THAT UNION WITH CHRIST IS THE PRIVILEGE OF THE GOOD. "Why persecutest thou Me?" So dear are His disciples to His heart, that their sufferings are His. He bears their infirmities, and carries their sorrows, even in heaven. They are "members of His body," and no part can be wounded without quivering to the sensorium (Matthew 25:40, 45).

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. THE ZEAL AND STRIVING OF THE NATURAL HEART AND THE LORD'S VOICE. "Why persecutest thou Me?"

II. THE QUESTION OF THE OBSTINATE HEART. "Who art Thou, Lord?" and the Lord's answer, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."

III. THE QUESTION OF THE HUMBLED HEART. "What shall I do, Lord?" and the Lord's reply, "Arise," etc.

(Gerlach.)

(G. S. Bowes, B. A.)

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

(R. Alleine.)

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)

II. JESUS OF NAZARETH IS LORD OF HEAVEN. Saul gave Him this title, and He accepts it as His right. Two things especially engendered the conviction that He was Lord while on earth: His miracles (John 9:36) and His teaching, both from its matter (John 6:38) and manner (Matthew 7:29). The miraculous light which shone forth upon Saul, with the rebuke of authority which accompanied it, convinced him of the dignity of the Person who addressed him.

III. BECAUSE THE LORD OF HEAVEN IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, HE HAS A SPECIAL SYMPATHY WITH HIS PEOPLE'S WRONGS. The sympathy of Jesus arises not merely from His having while on earth passed through human suffering: His vital connection with His Church as its Head (Ephesians 5:23) makes Him now a sharer in their sufferings for Him. Lessons:

1. The powerlessness of death to destroy conscious identity. Christ has passed through death, yet is still "Jesus of Nazareth."

2. The place where we have honestly toiled in this world will be remembered by us in the next. The carpenter's shop at Nazareth was as much a part of the Saviour's education (Hebrews 5:8) as His after experience. So is the scene of our lowliest work.

3. It is dangerous to harm a Christian, seeing his intimate relation with the Lord of glory.

4. The gentleness of the Saviour's reproof of this bitter persecutor may encourage any who mourn over their past opposition.

(W. Harris.)

I. PRECIOUS DOCTRINE.

1. The identity of Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth in heaven was unchanged from what He was below. But when you add to this the ability which He claimed on high to dispense the blessings received of the Father, how does the assurance of His sameness bridge the distance between earth and heaven!

2. The influence of His Nazareth experience upon His present condition. All the things through which He passed have made Him in the skies far different from that before His birth in Bethlehem. Before He was with God, then He was Emmanuel, God with us. Now is He with God and God with us; bringing God near unto each disciple, and bringing every disciple near to God. He had the crowns of creation, of providence, of kingly control, before He wore the crown of thorns; but in the redemption of man Jesus holds the sovereignty. The centre of all worship is a Nazarene, who has been exalted by the Father because of His Nazareth experience.

3. The basis of His work on high is His Nazareth experience. Whilst resting in triumph, He does not forget Nazareth. The least and the lowest are as much His care as the proudest and the most princely. An identity of experience has given a new, deep meaning to the word "sympathy." But more, His qualifications, His plea in intercession, is in Nazareth. Our Advocate with the Father: "Jesus Christ the righteous," and His righteousness was wrought out in the Nazareth life. Even so His kingly, His prophetical, His sustaining, His comforting offices are based upon this one experience which He sums up in the word "Nazareth." Nazareth has long since become a ruin, but it is remembered in heaven.

II. PERSONAL INSTRUCTION. Doctrine is worthless unless it comes down to life. It is bread; let the poor man eat it. Stop talking about its chemistry. It is a house; the storm overtakes one while the admiring critic is telling about its architecture. Open the door and let the man in to the well-spread table. The true theologian is the living Christian. Here we have —

1. A warning to persecutors. "I am Jesus of Nazareth." The wisdom and the hatred of men are this day in league against the Nazarene. An exalted Saviour, Himself maintaining a plea for men, is that which proud unbelief cannot endure. But let such listen. God hath thus exalted Him, and those who oppose Him will find it hard, as Saul did, "to kick against the pricks." It will be hard in thy conscience; it will be hard, growingly hard, in thy experience; it will be harder for thee by and by.

2. Great comfort in perplexity. It is a perfect key to every lock of the Dungeon of Despair. It makes a full provision for every anxiety of the Christian. Art thou ignorant? — Jesus of Nazareth is thy Teacher. Art thou weak? — He is thy Strength. Art thou fearful? — He is thy Power. Art thou tempted? — He is thy Defender. Has the hour of death come? — now thou enterest into life. Tell me some want of the soul for which this Nazarene Jesus does not present Himself as a specific!

3. Assurance of our partnership in His triumph. The Head carries with Him the members. Where our Forerunner has entered, there shall everyone who trusts Him and loves Him at last appear.

(S. H. Tyng, D. D. , jun.)

I. That a change of worlds does not destroy the PERSONAL IDENTITY OF MAN. Christ had died, ascended to heaven, and yet He says, "I am Jesus of Nazareth"; I am the same Being that was brought up in Nazareth. Sublimely encouraging to us is it that Jesus, who was here on earth, so full of tenderness and love, is the same Jesus now in heaven. Nor does the change of worlds destroy the identity of men. Abraham is the same as when he dwelt in the tents of Mature. A man once, a man forever. Conscious personality will always be preserved. The words suggest —

II. That great natures are NEVER ASHAMED OF THEIR ORIGIN, HOWEVER HUMBLE. "Jesus of Nazareth!" "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Christ, though amidst the highest aristocracy of the Creator, was not ashamed of His origin.

III. That the meanest spots on earth, when they become the SCENES OF HOLY LIVES, ARE FAMOUS IN THE UNIVERSE. "I am Jesus of Nazareth." No doubt sainted men talk of the varied scenes of their earthly life in the upper spheres of being.

(Homilist.)

The sights and sounds of life: — The little discrepancy between the occurrence as given by Luke in chap. Acts 9, and as stated by the apostle here, instead of invalidating, confirms the authenticity of the accounts. Identity of statement by two different individuals, after an interval of about twenty-five years, might justly awaken serious suspicion of collusion. You have here two things —

1. A voice heard by all, but understood only by Paul. The voice vibrated on the ears of his companions, and so shocked their nervous system that they fell "speechless"; but it conveyed no idea. Whereas it conveyed a wonderful message deep into Paul's soul.

2. A light seen by all, but revealing nothing except to Paul. It was mere dazzling brightness. But in that radiance "The Lord, even Jesus, appeared unto" Paul. Now, this extraordinary circumstance indicates what is common in human life. Everywhere there are men, hearing the same voice, but receiving different impressions; seeing the same lights, but observing different objects. A "voice" fraught with deep meaning to some, is mere empty sound to others. A "light" revealing the grandest realities to some, discloses nothing to others.

I. MEN'S LIVES IN RELATION TO MATERIAL NATURE SHOWS THIS.

1. The "lights" of nature, to the thoughtless, reveal just what they reveal to the brute, and nothing more. To the superstitious they reveal hosts of unearthly existences, dreaded as demons or worshipped as gods; to the sceptical philosopher nothing but a system of forces, working by its own inherent impulse; to the Christian, a wise and loving Father.

2. The "voices" of nature convey to some nothing but mere sensation, to others superstitious awe, to others scientific intelligence, to others thoughts from God Himself.

II. MEN'S LIVES IN RELATION TO HUMAN HISTORY SHOW THIS. To some history —

1. Is without any governing law at all. Its social, mercantile, political movements are ascribed only to blind impulse and capricious passions. There is no law seen shaping or systematising the whole.

2. Has only the governing law of human might, viz., that the strong preys upon the weak. The progress and decline of commerce, the rise and fall of empires, the fate of many battles, are all ascribable to superior strength.

3. Is governed exclusively by evil. The devil is absolutely the god of the human world. He is in the schemes of the trader, the thunders of the orator, the edicts of the despot, the craft of the priest, the rage of the warrior.

4. Is governed by the mediatorial plan of God. The restorative purpose of Heaven, as revealed in the Bible, is seen running through the ages, stimulating, shaping, and subordinating all things. Even the bitterest sufferings of humanity are regarded as parturition throes giving birth to a higher order of things.

III. MEN'S LIVES IN RELATION TO THE INSPIRED ORACLE SHOW THIS. Ecclesiastical history, theological polemics, religious life, are fraught with illustrations. The sceptic and the believer, the Papist and the Protestant, the Calvinist and the Pelagian, the Socinian and the Trinitarian, the Churchman and the Nonconformist, are examples as to how the same "light" and "voice" of the one Book affect different men. What is the articulate voice of God to one is mere hollow sound to another. And what is "a light" to one is either darkness or stupefying brightness to another.

IV. MEN'S LIVES IN RELATION TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY SHOW THIS. The sermon which, as a Divine "voice," speaks to the conscience of some, has no meaning to others; or which, as Divine "light," flashes moral conviction and reveals Christ to some, is either not seen at all, or regarded as a mere glare of human genius or blaze of human enthusiasm. Conclusion: This subject —

1. Reveals a distinguishing attribute of human nature. Men have the power of hearing and seeing with the soul, which brutes have not. Ezekiel, Isaiah, John, Milton, etc., show what men can see with the organs of the soul. "The pure in heart shall see God."

2. Explains the great difference between spiritually and carnally-minded men.

3. Presents an object after which all should strive. Each should get the eyes and ears of the soul quickened so as to see and hear the Divine everywhere. When the servant of Elisha had his eye and ear open, he saw and heard the supernatural. So it will be with us.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. HE HAS DONE THE MOST DIFFICULT THING. He has apprehended the invisible God as his Master and Saviour. He no longer stands afar off saying, "Oh, that I knew where I could find Him;" he has grasped the gospel of free forgiveness, and can go in and out where God is and inquire in His temple. In each perplexing alternative, in the dark day of trouble, when no friend is near and life trembling in the balance, he can look up to God as his Counsellor and Helper. It was thus that Paul henceforth lived, and the maturity of the question is seen in his confidence, "The Lord stood by me and strengthened me."

II. The question is of LARGE COMPASS.

1. It is the question which a young man asks in choosing his life vocation. Well is it when it has been asked in the fear of God. The addition of "Lord" would have altered in many cases the character of the question and the nature of the reply.

2. In forming an acquaintance, or taking a partner for life, what miseries, entanglements, sins, and crimes would be avoided if the Oracle were visited before determining on the course.

3. This is the question most appropriate to the penitent sinner. Witness the futility of the sinner to break the chain of evil habits without God.

III. The question earnestly asked is NEVER LEFT WITHOUT AN ANSWER. The answer is adapted with the most discrimination to the circumstances of —

1. The man who has lost the light.

2. The man who has never had the light.

(Dean Vaughan.)

I. A consciousness that SOMETHING MUST BE DONE IN ORDER TO OBTAIN SALVATION. A man cannot morally be saved by inaction. Effort is essential.

II. A consciousness that something must be done AGREEABLE TO THE DIVINE WILL. "What wilt Thou have me to do?" The work to be done must be done, not by blind excitement or capricious act, but by the will of God. God's will is to be consulted.

III. A consciousness that the thing to be done must be done by the MAN HIMSELF. "What wilt Thou have me to do?" No one can do the work that is necessary for me — no priest, preacher, or Church. I must do it.

IV. A consciousness of THE NEED OF DIVINE HELP in the work. "What wilt Thou have me to do? "I want Divine direction. As if he had said something must be done, whatever Thou teachest I will do. "Teach me Thy will."

(Homilist.)

I. THE FIRST AND STRONGEST INSTINCT OF A NEWBORN SOUL. "How shall I express my gratitude and love? how let Thee and others know how thankful I am?" Saul's heaviest punishment would have been consignment to a life of inactivity. The Master seemingly could hardly find work enough for him to do. It is not more natural for a fountain to flow, or a star to shine, or a seraph to sing, than it is for a new-born soul to work.

II. A MAN WHO HAD MADE AN ABSOLUTE SURRENDER OF HIMSELF TO THE LORD. From that hour on he was in the hands of the Master as clay is in the hands of the potter. Much that passes under the name of consecration is little more than a profane attempt to compound with the Master, giving up that which we do not care to keep, that we may retain that with which we cannot afford to part.

III. A MAN WHO, having made an absolute self-surrender, LET THE LORD CHOOSE HIS LIFE WORK FOR HIM. When he heard the command to depart from Jerusalem (ver. 18), Paul ventured reverently to expostulate. He said, as it were, "Lord, it seems to me that this is the place, above all others, for me to preach the gospel. My past life will help me here. They know how I persecuted Thy people. And when I tell them of that great light which I saw on the way to Damascus; when they see the wonderful change which has come over me — they will have to lend me their ears. Let Peter go to the Gentiles, let John go, let James go; they will not listen to any of them as they will listen to me." Now, if you and I had been there we should have taken the same view, and yet it was soon very evident that the Master was right and the servant wrong (vers. 21, 22). Had Saul stayed at Jerusalem, his career would have been brought to an untimely end. It is a great thing to let the Lord choose our life work for us. Many in choosing their life consult their ease or their pride or their avarice or their ambition, and if they go to the Lord at all, it is after they have made their choice.

IV. PAST LIFE AN ELEMENT OF INSPIRATION. Paul felt that he had so much to undo. Can you think of anything more touching than his allusion to Stephen (ver. 20)? Avenge my death, cries the blood of every martyr, by waging a war of extermination against sin. Is your past life an element of your inspiration? Does no ghost of a slighted opportunity, or a neglected duty, or an abused mercy, or a murdered moment summon thee to greater fidelity? Hast thou no lost time to redeem, no neglected work to make up? Does it not become thee to be about thy Master's work? You cannot recall the past, but you may do much toward redeeming it.

(J. B. Shaw, D. D.)

(Joseph Cook.)

(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

I. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

1. His eternity. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten": and my mind can easily take in the measurement of such a period. Nay, I can easily look back to the time when the first star was kindled. I have no difficulty with the most ancient of God's creatures; only tell me that they are creatures, and once began to be. But a Being who never began to be — a river of life that never had a fountainhead, this is more than I have faculties to grapple with. "I cannot see for the glory of the light."

2. His omnipresence. When the Psalmist says, "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?" etc., who is there that is not ready to cry with him, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me"? "I cannot see for the glory of the light!"

3. His other attributes: His omniscience — that there is nothing He doesn't know; His omnipotence — that there is nothing He cannot do. We have no power of vision that can bear the strain. "We cannot see for the glory of the light."

II. THE DISCOVERIES OF THE GOSPEL. It is a very pleasant thing to be able to say that there is not a little child that cannot understand it. But when you inquire into its origin, its spirit, its provisions, you soon find yourself diving in deep waters. The incarnation of Christ in our inferior nature — the substitution of Christ in the place of guilty men — the love of God, that provided such a substitute, and consented to such humiliation: these are things which, the more yon ponder them, the grander and more glorious do they appear.

III. THE FUTURE BLESSEDNESS OF THE WORLD. You see at once that we must change the scene. Crosses and curses tell of a world that is not blessed. See how cruel men are to themselves and to one another! See the strifes of families, of neighbourhoods, of nations; the oppression of the weak, the envy of the strong. But now hear words like these, "The nations shall be glad and sing for joy." Why? Because "none shall hurt and none destroy." Nay, more! "The tabernacle of God is with men," etc. These are not dreams, but true sayings of God. But what a picture do they raise! It is too bright — it is more than my eyes can bear! "I cannot see for the glory of the light."

IV. THE FINAL HEAVEN. This seems the appropriate close of all earth's promised blessedness — indeed, the one seems to merge into the other, just as the distant sea seems to merge into the sky. Thus the last quotation is followed by "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death," etc. Little does it matter where heaven shall be, if we may but be there! It is to be with Christ — to see His glory — to be conformed to His image: this must be heaven, wherever heaven may be. Nor can I doubt that in the world where the redeemed are to "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," we shall meet beloved ones who have gone before. But, oh, glorious inheritance of the saints in light! They shall be glorious in body, in soul, in surroundings, society, service, life, love, joy! But it is not for me to sketch the outline of the scene, for "I cannot see for the glory of the light."

(F. Tucker, B. A.)

I. THE EXCELLENCE OF THY LIGHT. We have nothing definitely recorded as to the nature of the light. To assert, as some have done, that it was a mere electric phenomenon is absurd. Equally unsatisfactory is the theory that it was only a vision peculiar to Paul (Acts 26:13). The "minute particulars" given of the light evince "the objective reality of this heavenly manifestation." To us the most reasonable explanation is that which regards this light as the Shekinah — that visible and miraculous glory which was a symbol of the Divine presence. As Dr. Bonar has well said, "It appeared at sundry times and in divers forms for various purposes — now of mercy, now of judgment. It was the light that blazed out in the flaming sword; that appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees; that was seen by Moses in the burning bush; that shone out in the pillar of cloud and compassed the top of Sinai; that dwelt in the tabernacle and temple; that showed itself to Gideon's father; that kindled the fire on Solomon's altar; that was seen by Ezekiel departing, and by Daniel in his visions; that for four hundred years left the earth, but reappeared at Bethlehem to the shepherds and to the wise men; at Christ's baptism; at the Transfiguration; at Pentecost; at Stephen's martyrdom; and now at Saul's conversion, and afterward at Patmos. Such is the history of this wondrous light — the representation of Him who is light, and in whom is no darkness at all." Whatever that light may have been, we do know most certainly that at every conversion there is light — the light of the glorious gospel of Christ and the illumination of the Holy Ghost. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus." Between the visible glory that shone around Saul and the invisible brightness that shines in upon every converted soul there are several points of likeness.

1. It was a light from heaven. Not merely streaming from the firmament, but actually emanating from the dwelling place of the Divine Being. It shone from that city where they have no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And so is it with gospel light. It proceeds alone from God. His wisdom devised and His grace first contrived the way to save rebellious man. "The Dayspring from on high hath visited us." Our calling is in every way a heavenly one. We needed a Divine revelation. The light of such a revelation is far brighter than that of human reason. The light of reason is utterly insufficient to lead one soul in the way of holiness.

2. It was a light above the brightness of the sun. This is very remarkable. It was midday, the sun had reached its zenith. It was an Oriental sun, the heavens were ablaze with light. So the light of the gospel is superior to the brightest light of nature. Revelation exceeds Nature at her best.

3. It was a light which revealed Christ. This light revealed Christ. There is no doubt that Saul had an actual sight of Jesus. "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me." "And last of all, He was seen of me also." It was the greatest glory of the light that it brought Jesus into view. And this is the glory of the gospel, that it brings Jesus before us, and herein is its superiority not only to reason and nature, but also to the law of Moses. "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." The law makes known the spotless holiness and inflexible justice of God, and thereby renders us conscious of sin. But the light of the gospel tells of grace as well as truth, and mercy as well as righteousness.

II. THE EFFECT OF THE LIGHT. "I Could not see for the glory of that light." A strange effect, surely! Yet there is such a thing as being dark with excess of light. And right through his Christian career he might constantly have said, "I could not see for the glory of that light."

1. He was blinded to the world. He became blind to the world's glory, pride, pomp, wealth, and pleasure. The light of heavenly glory was so dazzling that he could not see lesser lights. And thus it is with every converted soul. Earth has no attractions for such an one. Faithful walked through Vanity Fair with averted eyes, so does a true believer pass through the world.

2. He was blinded to his old views of religion. There was never a more remarkable change of opinion and creed than in his case. He preached the faith which once he destroyed. Oh, it is a blessed thing when the light of truth blinds us to error! There are people now embracing false ideas which seem to them wonderfully plain. They see certain things (as they imagine) with the utmost clearness. We cannot convince them that they are wrong. But let this heavenly light shine upon them, and what a transformation will be effected!

3. He was blinded to his own greatness and goodness. Before his conversion he had a capital opinion of himself. Now he is "less than least of all saints" and the chief of sinners. He cannot see that well-satisfied, boastful, righteous self. The glory of the Divine light has blinded him to his own glory.

4. He was blinded to his former companions. He could not see those with whom he journeyed. "He saw no man," we read. And when his eyes were opened, the first face that greeted his regained vision was that of a follower of Jesus. He chooses the people of God, and bids farewell to those with whom he once consorted.

(C. W. Townsend.)

2. The self-same law which obtains in the external world has its types in the world of mind; and as regards spiritual things as well as visible ones, there is such a thing as over-much glory dazzling, instead of informing and enlightening the mind.

I. THE FIRST OBJECT CONCERNING WHICH IT IS TRUE THAT FOR VERY GLORY WE CANNOT SEE IT CLEARLY IS GOD HIMSELF. God is Light: the Father of Lights: that dwelleth in Light. And yet, is it not true that "we cannot see Him for the glory of that light"? "No man hath seen God at any time"; no man can see God and live. We cannot comprehend God; and the longer and more deeply we think upon the Almighty, the more humbly we say, "Verliy Thou art a God that hidest Thyself!" It is only when His glory is tempered down to our weak sight by coming through the medium of a human nature in the face of Jesus that we can understand it, at least in some degree. His eternity, His omnipresence, His reading of every thought of our heart: who can understand all that? You will remember the ancient fable of the sage, who was asked by his king, "What is God?" and who asked a day to consider his reply: and then at the end of the day a month; and at the end of the month a year; and at the end of the year said he never could answer the question at all, because mystery gathered on mystery the longer he dwelt upon the theme. Ah! it is the experience of every man who looks at God in any way but as revealed in Christ. "We cannot see for the glory of that light."

II. RELIGIOUS TRUTHS ARE VERY OFTEN OVERLOOKED, JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE SET IN A LIGHT SO THOROUGH THAT REASONING ABOUT THEM IS NEEDLESS. We do not see them, for the very clearness of the light which shines upon them. If you are trying to impress upon any man some truth of great practical importance, but which is not quite apparent at the first glance, you make use of various arguments and illustrations to make it plainer and more obvious. But if a man doubts or denies a truth which is already so plain, what is the use of arguing with him? And the most real of all ways of denying any truth is to deny it practically. Now the evil and the difficulty is that almost all those religious truths which men practically deny are truths which are already so plain that no talking can make them plainer. Take the following truths:

1. The necessity of obtaining a part in Christ's salvation before we leave this world. I know what to do if a man says, "But I do not believe in Christ; and so I seek no part or lot in Him." I should seek to set before him the various reasons we have for believing Christ; and then I should hope that he would begin to act upon his belief. But what can you say to a man who believes that by turning to Christ he may gain heaven and escape hell, and yet who knows and confesses that he is living as though his creed were the atheist's? You can tell him nothing he does not know. Argument and information have no effect upon him, just because he agrees with them so readily: as the strongest blast can make no permanent impression on the willow, just because the willow bends so readily before its breath.

2. The certainty of death and its possible nearness. It is a trite truism to say that "all must die." Who doubts it? We all admit the truth, but who acts upon it? One would think that amid a world of many graves, we who have looked so often upon them would hardly be able to forget that in a little while we shall be laid where we have seen many laid before us. But how very little we realise the hour when we shall lie upon our bed of death! It was no wonder that David said, "Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" for if we could only every day keep that parting hour before us, and realise all it means, what earnest Christians we should be! There is no reason at all why such a remembrance should overcast our days with sadness. Those who think most of death, if they think in the way the Psalmist wished us, are those who will fear it least.

III. THE WAY IN WHICH THIS EVIL MAY BE REMEDIED. The right course to take when we feel that any religious doctrine has grown too familiar to us, so that familiarity has taken from the effect it used to have upon our hearts, is to make it a subject of special prayer, that the Holy Spirit may open the eyes of our understandings to understand it better, and touch our hearts to feel it more. Many a Christian can tell you that in a season of prayer or of solemn meditation he has had glimpses of the Saviour's value, and while thus musing the fire has burned — a fire which no earthly power kindled in his heart. And in all this the believer would trace the breathing of the enlightening Spirit of God. Now these influences are free to all believers: we have more confidence in praying for the Spirit than in asking for almost any other blessing. "If ye, being evil," etc. And while we would bear it in our remembrance how much we need Him in many ways — as a Spirit of holiness, prayer, and comfort — let us ask for Him, too, as one whose special province it is to open the eyes of our understanding and make us see by uncreated light.

IV. THE GUILT OF THUS OVERLOOKING RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. God has said and shown enough to us; and it is our own fault if we will not see and hear. You remember the answer of Abraham to the rich man in woe, "They have Moses and the prophets." If they would neglect and overlook all the warnings they had, they must do so at their own peril. It would be no answer at the day of judgment to say that they really had never noticed how much God had done to make them think of eternity. And there can hardly be a more awful thing in the appearance of the careless soul, when at last the hour of death draws near, than when first there breaks upon it the awful sense of how much light it had sinned against in its progress towards endless woe. We shall feel then, if not before, the tremendous force of the old reasons for going to Christ and believing on Him, which were pressed upon us a thousand times, till they grew so familiar to us that they produced no impression.

(A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)

I. TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE HIGHEST SUBJECT. "That thou shouldst know His will." God has a will in relation to all existences and to every individual man. It is the spring of all existence, the rule of all motion, the standard of all character. To understand it is to understand the philosophy of all being, the cause of all phenomena, and the science of all duty. All true subjects of thought are related to it, and lead into it as radia to their centre. It is, therefore, the sublimest subject of thought. It expresses the Divine nature, it reveals the universe. It is, therefore, the great theme for the study of eternity. To the study of this Paul was thus ordained. He began it then, he is at it now, he will continue at it forever.

II. TO A VISION OF THE HIGHEST EXISTENCE. Not only to understand the will which is the law of the universe, but to see the Lawgiver Himself (chap. Acts 3:14). Christ is called "that Just One," not merely because, as God, He is absolutely just, nor merely because, as man, He "did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," but as Mediator who has engaged to make unjust men just to themselves, to their fellows, to the universe, to God. Paul wan ordained to Him in order —

1. To renovate him as a sinner. The vision of Christ is the soul transforming force. "Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we are changed," etc.

2. To qualify him as an apostle. One of the necessary qualifications of an apostle was that he should have a personal view of Christ. Hence he says, "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord?"

3. To consummate his blessedness as a man. What is the heaven of souls? The beatific vision of Christ (Revelation 5:6, 12).

III. TO A RECEPTION OF THE HIGHEST COMMUNICATIONS. "And shouldst hear the voice of His mouth." To have a direct communication with Christ seemed necessary in order to put Paul on a level with the twelve apostles (Acts 13:3; Galatians 1:1). But whilst this was specially required for Paul as an apostle, it is the high privilege of all good men. "Never man spake like this man," they said who heard Him when on earth, when He spoke only the few things that they could bear. But to listen to that voice in heaven, what an ecstasy of joy! What is the voice of your Plato's compared with the voice of Christ?

IV. TO A DISCHARGE OF THE HIGHEST MISSION. "Thou shalt be His witness," etc. To bear witness —

1. Of the highest facts about the greatest Being.

2. Of the highest facts about the greatest Being to all mankind. How earnestly shall we aspire to such an ordination!

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. WHAT THE PREACHER MUST BRING ALONG WITH HIM into the ministry.

1. The knowledge of the Divine will.

2. The experience of Divine grace.

II. WHAT THE PREACHER IS TO DO in the ministry — to be a witness to all men in word and deed of what he has seen and heard.

III. ON WHAT THE PREACHER MAY DEPEND in his ministry — on the grace of God which has appointed him to the office and will strengthen him in it.

(K. Gerok.)

I. A SPECIAL DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. "Thou shalt be His witness." Sometimes a Christian is designated a steward, and is left in trust for Christ; sometimes a shepherd, and is commanded to feed the flock of God; but here he is called a witness. A witness is one who bears testimony to that with which he is personally acquainted. The apostle was a competent witness — he was permitted to see and know Christ; he was a courageous witness — he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; and he was a consistent witness — both by word and deed he declared the whole counsel of God. How can we witness for Christ?

1. By our self-denying labours. This is the very essence of the Christian religion. "Whosoever doth not bear his cross," etc. The need of a spirit of self-abnegation is abundantly manifest. We are surrounded by the ignorant, who must be taught; by the careless, who must be awakened; and by the lost, who must be led to the Saviour.

2. By our holy deportment. The end of Christ's death is the holiness of His people. The Christian is commanded to let his light so shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his Father who is in heaven. Holiness is power. "Argument may be resisted, entreaty may be disregarded, and eloquence may be scorned; but the exhibition of an exalted piety has a might which nothing can withstand. It is truth embodied; it is the gospel preaching in the lives of its votaries. No sophistry can elude it, no conscience can ward it off, and no bosom wears a mail that can brave the energy of its attack."

II. AN EXTENSIVE SPHERE OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. "To all men." If you examine a map of the countries through which the apostle travelled, you will be amazed at the extent of his labours. Distance did not damp his zeal, nor danger daunt his courage. Where can we witness for Christ?

1. In private. This is a far more important sphere of service than many persons think. Are we diligent in the time of service? Are we patient in the hour of suffering? Are we resigned in the season of bereavement? Then we are witnessing for Christ.

2. In public. This is not only a difficult, but a very delicate task. We may dishonour Christ by our silence, and we may displease men by our speech. But there is greater danger of grieving Christ by our indifference than of offending men by our imprudence. Our testimony must be constant and courageous. Wherever our lot may be cast, there we must be loyal to Christ.

III. AN IMPORTANT QUALIFICATION FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE. "Of what thou hast seen and heard." An apostle must know the will and experience the grace of God. He had seen the "Just One," and "heard His voice"; and you might as well have tried to reason him out of a belief in his own existence as to reason him out of his belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If we have seen the glory of God, or enjoyed the fellowship of Christ, we must "witness to all men of what we have seen and heard."

(J. T. Woodhouse.)

I. THE POSITION IS ONE OF PERIL. If your house was in flames, and you were awakened at the dead of night by the cries of firemen calling upon you to escape, would you reply that you must deliberate upon the situation? To use the wise man's image (Proverbs 23:34), would you, if you were lying on the top of the mast when the vessel was rocking violently and the crew were calling you to come down, respond that you must duly weigh the matter?

II. THE POSITION IS SINFUL. It is a sin against the authority of God, who commands you to come; against the love of God, who yearns for you; against Jesus Christ — a rejection of the Divine claims, of His mercy. If it were theft, would you say, "I will steal one year more, and then I will stop"? Why, then, should you say, "I will sin by rejecting Christ one year or one day more, and after that perhaps I will turn from this sin?"

III. IT MAY BE INSTANTLY PERFORMED. You cannot stop fighting God gradually. Will you fire a few less guns tomorrow, and only an occasional gun the day after? Is that making peace? "As the Roman ambassador drew a circle around the captive princes, and bade them accede to his terms before they passed its bounds, so God requires an immediate response to His overture of mercy."

IV. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY NOW TO PERFORM IT. No doubt you think you would prefer to have deeper convictions, stronger desires and all that; but you must learn to act on what you have. A vessel may leave the harbour with a wind of fifteen knots, or ten, or five, or one knot an hour. "Act on what you have; think not of what might be. It is better to go out of the harbour of false ease and delusive security upon a wind that merely fills the flapping sails than not to go at all."

V. THE DIFFICULTIES WILL NOT BE LESSENED BY DELAY. You remember the countryman in AEsop's fable who sat down by a running stream, saying: "If this stream continues to flow as it does now for a little while, it will empty itself, and I will walk over dry shod." He waited in vain! and so do you. The difficulties will never become less.

VI. THE DIFFICULTIES WILL INCREASE. The purchase of heaven is like buying of the Sibyl's prophecies — the longer you delay the dearer the price. Men think as they grow older they will grow more virtuous. This is contradicted by the law of habit. Late conversions are rare. "Old age is, of all the ages of life, the least fitted for the work of salvation." Facility in goodness does not come from habitually ignoring Christ.

VII. THE SHORTNESS AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. The vistas of life seen in the perspective of hope may seem long to us; youth may smile at the suggestions of the tomb, and, conscious strength, may repel the insinuations of mortality; but the resistless hand of time is drawing us on. Nature and life are full of reminders of the brevity and incertitude of human existence. "The eagle poising a moment on the wing, and then rushing at her prey; the ship that, throwing the spray from her bow, scuds before the wind; the shuttle, flashing through the loom; the shadow of the cloud sweeping the hillside, and then gone forever, not leaving a trace behind; the summer flowers that, vanishing, have left our gardens bare"; the falling of the autumn leaf; the rushing of the mountain torrent; the dispersion of the morning mist; the fading of the summer day; these, with many other fleeting things, are emblems by which God through nature is teaching us how frail we are; at the longest, how short our days!

(E. S. Prout.)

II. BAPTISM REPRESENTS THE WASHING AWAY OF SINS. Nothing can be clearer than this. Sin has ever been regarded as a defilement which required to be washed away to make a man fit to stand in the sight of God. When this purification became possible, through "the water and the blood" which flowed from the Saviour's side, the fact was set forth by a rite in which water was employed; at the same time the Lord declared the Spirit of God, which He came to give, to be essential to that new birth without which there is no personal efficacy in baptism. Yet this is the matter upon which there has been most unaccountable and fatal confusion. The text says, "Be baptized, and wash away your sins" — two things as different as a sign, and the thing signified. Yet these two have been declared to he the same. If it were so, I myself should have been "a new creature in Christ Jesus" in virtue of it, without any conversion; but I know that I was not. If it were so, then Simon Magus must have been among the saved. The idea of baptism being the actual remission of sins, or regeneration, or anything whatever beyond a sign of these as needful and possible, is too groundless for argument. But it does show us, as clearly as any earthly image can, the necessity and the possibility of "the washing of regeneration."

III. BAPTISM IS OF PERPETUAL IMPORTANCE AND OBLIGATION. Christianity and spirituality are all but synonymous terms, this being emphatically the dispensation of the Spirit. The ceremonial law of Moses was in itself very burdensome; but those who would prefer outward rites to true religion were always heaping up traditions upon it, until it became a yoke of bondage too heavy to be borne. Then the Saviour gave the very character of His economy when He said, "God is a Spirit," etc.; in harmony with which He said also, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation," etc., which Paul did but illustrate when he said, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink," etc. Now, from these and a hundred such Scriptures we might have argued that the pure Spirit of Christ, without any figure, was Christianity. But our conceits, however logical they may seem, are not Christianity; and seeing that the thoughts and ways of God are so immeasurably higher than those of men, and wiser, and kinder, it is ever better to inquire what He has decreed than to imagine what He would do. We have already proved that Christ did institute this rite. Its very institution proves its importance then; and if it had any then, it must have as much if not more now; for if ever the outward and visible sign could be dispensed with, it must be while the Divine Teacher was living in our world to explain and to enforce His doctrines. And the most spiritual men have confessed that the two sacraments have proved a real help to their faith. At the dedication of their offspring to God in Christ, as well as at the table of the Lord, they have felt and learnt what they never learnt before, becoming more spiritual than ever. Whether this were so or not, the Divinely attested fact that Jesus decreed the baptism of all nations in His very last words is the proof that it is to have a continuance unto the end of the world. If one may explain away the rites ordained by the Lord, another may explain away the doctrines which they were ordained to teach; and, alas! many do both this day. What the very apostles needed we cannot less need; and it must be a right and safe conclusion that Christ only can unmake any ordinance which He has made, and that until He does so it rests upon all His disciples as an unquestionable obligation.

IV. BAPTISM IS TO BE ADMINISTERED TO ALL WHO WORSHIP CHRIST. The last clause of the text is of all importance. It proves, even before it is expounded, that baptism alone, the rite as the outward action of another, cannot save, but that its efficacy depends upon the state of mind and heart in the subject; for there is something else to be done while it is being performed. What this is is now the question. Of course it does not mean the formal mention of His holy "name," nor does it mean "calling," without any wish or hope of answer. The phrase is one borrowed from the Old Testament, where it always intends the actual worship of God in the prayer of faith. In the Psalms it; is said, "I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord"; "O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name." The phrase in question is also one of those which bind together the two Testaments. Joel says, "It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered" — which prediction both Peter and Paul quote word for word; and whatever may have been the prophet's idea, we know the apostle's intention in "the name of the Lord." These meant not the Lord Jehovah, but the Lord Jesus. So, then, what Ananias here required from Saul was that with the highest possible intention he should call Jesus "Master and Lord"; and if any man whatever do this with apparent honesty, and is yet unbaptized, to him every minister of Christ should say, "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins."

(J. De Kewer Williams.)

1. "Arise," that is, lift up your hearts to the Redeemer! "Lift up your eyes to the hill Calvary, whence cometh your help." "Arise," hang down and droop thy head no more as if no balm was in Gilead, or as if there were no Physician there that could heal thee; though thou art a poor prodigal child, and hast been feeding upon the husks, the pleasures and vanities of a sinful world, thou hast a Father that loves thee, arise and go to Him. Thou hast a dear Saviour whose wounds will heal thy spoiled and poisoned nature. Thou hast the "Holy Ghost, who will lead thee and comfort thee as a mother comforteth her only son." "Arise," leave thy sins, thy lusts, thy dangerous place, and venture to come to the sinner's refuge, and it shall go well with thee.

2. "Be baptized," be immersed and covered in the bloody sweat of Jesus, be baptized with the baptism wherewith He was baptized, those great drops which fell from Him in His agony shall wash away thy great crimes and frightful offences.

3. "Wash away thy sins," that is, come to the blood of the Lamb. No Jordan, no pool of Siloam, no Bethesda is like it. Whoever comes to this laver, to this fountain, though his sins were more than the hairs of his head, or the sands upon the seashore, all shall be washed away and remembered no more: and though his crimes were the most vile and abominable, so that his heart failed him, yet the blood of Christ shall make him whiter than the snow in Salmon, and soften and melt his hard and icy nature, and speak peace and pardon to his guilty conscience.

4. "Calling upon the name of the Lord," this is to direct you where to apply, to whom you may address yourselves and make your requests, namely, to the Lord Jesus that appeared to Paul in the way. He is the Friend of sinners. He is the Minister of the true sanctuary, who hears prayer, and has the tenderest heart. Ask of Him and He will give you, seek to Him and you shall find, knock at the door of the sheepfold, and you shall find entrance by the new and living way of His flesh and blood, into the holiest place of all.

(John Cennick.)

I. A POSSIBLE WORK. "Be baptized, and wash away thy sins." The Holy Word represents the sinful state of the soul under different figures — sleep, slavery, disease, death, pollution. Here pollution. The words imply that it is —

1. A cleansable pollution. It is not ingrained. It is something separable from the soul. It can be washed away. Baptism to Saul would symbolise moral cleansing. No water, of course, can wash the soul; all the waters of the Atlantic could not cleanse one moral stain. There is, however, a spiritual water, "the truth as it is in Jesus," by which the Eternal Spirit does cleanse (Ezekiel 36:25, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:7; Ephesians 5:25, 26; Revelation 1:5, 6; Revelation 7:14).

2. A pollution of which man must cleanse himself: "Wash away thy sins." No one can do it for us.

II. IT IS A PRAYING WORK. "Calling upon the name of the Lord." Christ's name is Himself; to call upon His name is to call upon Him.

1. Christ is the efficient cleanser of human souls. His work is to wash away the sins of the world, to purify the moral garments of humanity.

2. Prayer is the ordained means of attaining His cleansing influence (Romans 10:13). The prayer addressed to Him in the upper room at Jerusalem brought down His cleansing influences on the day of Pentecost. You may get wealth by industry, intelligence by study, wisdom by experience, but moral purity only by prayer.

III. IT IS AN URGENT WORK. "Why tarriest thou?" Or, more literally, Why art thou about acting, instead of acting really? Do not hesitate a moment. Be prompt. The importance of promptitude may be argued —

1. From the greatness of the work. Eternity depends upon it.

2. From the time already lost. The whole life should have been given to it, but much has run to waste.

3. From the increase of difficulties. Disinclination, insensibility, force of habit — all increase by delay.

4. From the character of the future. It is —

(1)Brief;

(2)uncertain.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. A COMMON THING — a man praying. Prayer is an instinct of the soul. Danger seldom fails to rouse this instinct even in the most depraved (Psalm 107:13). Volney, in a storm at sea, a striking example of this. All worthless prayer may be divided into two classes, prayer addressed —

1. To the wrong god.

2. To the right God in a wrong way.The universal tendency of man to pray implies the soul's innate belief in some of the leading facts of theology, such as the Being, Personality, Presence, and entreatability of God.

II. A common thing REACHING THE WONDERFUL. The trance is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition. To an "ecstasy" in Paul we owe the starting point of the Church, the command which bade him "depart far hence unto the Gentiles." It is supposed by some that it is to this trance Paul refers (2 Corinthians 12:1-5) when he speaks of being caught up to the third heaven. Conclusion: Learn —

1. The sublime possibilities of the human soul. By a mysterious power of abstraction it can shut out the external universe, and transport itself into a world where there are scenes too grand for description and communications surpassing utterance. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John, as well as Paul, were often transported to these supernal states.

2. The incomparable worth of true prayer. Prayer is the road into the celestial (Daniel 9:21-23; Acts 10:9).

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

II. THE SEASON: "While he was praying." There seems to be a natural, invisible, indissoluble connection between the offering of a prayer to God and the reception of spiritual blessings from God. The Bible teaches this by —

1. Doctrines.

2. Practice.

III. THE FORM. We may become acquainted with the world of spirits by —

1. Consciousness.

2. Testimony.

IV. THE SUBJECT. Christ's command to Paul suggests —

1. That He claims authority over the ministry.

2. His special providence over His own agencies and ministers.

(Caleb Morris.)

2. Paul introduced it because he wished to convince his former co-religionists that just as he had become a Christian preacher because he could not help himself, so when his heart was set upon labouring among his people, he was obliged to undertake what otherwise he would have utterly shrunk back from. Which of them, if they had been in his position, could have dared to say, "No"? Observe —

I. THE REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF IT (vers. 17, 18).

1. The narrative refers to Paul's first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion. He must have returned with very strange and mingled feelings. He left the Holy City the proud champion of Judaism; he came back to it the humble disciple of Christ. He left it with a heart full of hatred to the faith of Christ; he came back ready to lay down his life in defence of it. And yet, as by a kind of instinct, he betook himself to the old place of prayer; and it was fitted to impress his Jewish hearers in his favour that it was there that he received the charge that had given its colour and direction to all his afterlife.

2. I can fancy his Jewish hearers saying, "We can so far understand your own change of view and feeling, but what connection is there between that and your making common cause with the Gentiles?" "I did it," says Paul, "by express revelation. He said to me, Hasten and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony about Me."

3. Much might have been said in favour of his remaining. Were conversions not as important at Jerusalem as in Asia Minor and Europe? Should charity not "begin at home"? Was it not time enough to think of converting the heathen abroad when they had got all the people converted at home? Such considerations must have had weight then, as they have with some now.

4. But not only was there a perishing world outside, needing if not waiting for the good news, and who therefore had a right to the one remedy for its deadly ailment; there was another reason. The Jewish people had enjoyed their opportunity. If it could be said in Isaiah's time, surely much more then, "What can I do for My vineyard more that I have not done in it?" But they would not have Christ nor His gospel. And now that a new witness was raised up, the charge to him is," Don't stay here. Jerusalem has had its day." It was a terrible message. No wonder that Paul, who loved his people so intensely, was loath to obey it, and humbly argues against it.

5. And yet it is in keeping with what has been elsewhere and at other times. The light has shone brightly for a time among a people, and when they rejected or extinguished it, they were left in the darkness which themselves had chosen. Africa is witness to this, as are those lands in which Paul himself once held up the lamp of truth. It seems to be God's way to give the opportunity, and if it is not improved to withdraw it. So it was, in more recent times, in France, Hungary, Bohemia, Italy, and Spain.

6. Our own country and Germany seem now to be on their trial. The light of Reformation truth has shone in both; yet what multitudes in both lands are rejecting Christ, and abandoning themselves to carelessness and unbelief and open sin! And, as Hosea said, "Yea, woe also unto them, when I depart from them!" there may be something analogous to this in our own case. But, short of this, there are some who think that there has been such an expenditure of effort in some parts of the home field , often with very little in the way of result, that, without neglecting home, the stream of effort might now be legitimately diverted to the great harvest field abroad.

7. Are there not some who have had every advantage of a spiritual kind that could well be? And they have put off the great decision, or they have resisted, and made it next to impossible to venture on any further advances to them. It may be that they have had their "day," and that the Divine word regarding them is, "Make haste, and get thee quickly away, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me."

II. THE DIVINE CALL OVERRIDING OUR OWN VIEWS OF DUTY (vers. 19, 20). Paul could not silently acquiesce in this word. He thought that what had convinced him would convince others. How could they resist the force of such evidence as he had to bring? Did they not know his intense and inextinguishable hatred of the name and people of Christ? What did he need to do but just to present himself, as himself the best argument he could use? But there was one who knew human nature better than he. As He had once said to Ezekiel, so He now says to Paul, "But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto Me." An analogous ease is familiar to everyone. When Melanchthon had the truth opened up to him he thought he could not fail to commend it to others, but soon he had to make the confession that "old Adam was too strong for young Melanchthon!"

III. THE IMPERATIVE CLAIMS OF THE HEATHEN WORLD ON THE CHURCH OF GOD (ver. 21).

1. Paul stands at the head of the whole Christian army. Such a man would, of course, be set apart to the work which the Master regarded as most important. Just as in a great warfare our best general would be despatched to occupy what was the key to the whole position, so wherever we find Paul, there, we may conclude, the Church's great battle is to be fought, the Church's great work is to be done. Now, to human eye, such a man seemed supremely desirable at Jerusalem. Reason would say, "Above everything, make sure that the Church is strong at the centre. The best you can do for the extremities is to do the best that can be done for the heart. Do not, on any account, let Paul go. Anything will do for the outposts; anyone will do for a missionary." But the very form in which the charge is given is enough to show that the Church's greatest and most pressing work is the making known of Christ among the heathen; and so from that point Paul's life was unceasingly devoted to this end.

2. That was the great work of the Church then, and it is the great work now. Every reason might have been urged for keeping Paul in Jerusalem then that could have been pleaded for retaining him in Christendom now. Say what you will about the needs and claims of home, the fact is undeniable that there are comparatively few at home who have not the opportunity of knowing Christ, while three-fourths of the world are as ignorant of Christ as they were then; and the inevitable inference is that the Lord, who left the sheep that were safe in the fold and went out after that which was lost, is saying to His Church now, "Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the heathen."

3. Has the Church been acting upon that conviction? What of the vast empire of China? What of India? How much have we given of thought, or heart, or trouble, or time, or means, or prayer, to the work that lies nearest to the heart of Christ? How many of us sympathise with a young Christian lady who, when a friend remarked that it was a far way to go to Japan, replied, "Yes, very far, if it was only to make money; but not too far to tell the heathen about Jesus!"

(J. H. Wilson.)

(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

I. WHEN GOD HAS ANY GREAT WORK TO ACCOMPLISH, HE WILL NOT WANT PROPER MEANS TO EXECUTE IT. The call of the Gentiles had been the purport of many a prophecy. The era was now arrived when it should be realised; and while the apostles, influenced by Jewish prejudice, neglected this enterprise, God raised up Paul. Men may often project gigantic enterprises, but want the means of executing them. Nay, man may not only be incompetent to provide the means, but be incapable of contriving them, or even of imagining what they should be. But God's understanding and ability are infinite. If He contemplate the end, He can also command the means. He can construct the lever which shall move the world.

II. GOD OFTEN FITS INSTRUMENTS PROSPECTIVELY FOR HIS PURPOSE. Wisdom largely consists in improving means already prepared, and few men know how to do that effectually; but God can provide the means beforehand, and adapt them, with the most consummate skill, to the end in view. He had been previously fitting Paul by his training "at the feet of Gamaliel," by his proficiency in the Greek tongue, and by his acquaintance with the learning of the heathen world. So was it in the cases of Moses, David, etc., and so it is still; and as that diamond is ripening silently in its bed, under the agency of the hidden processes of nature, which is afterwards to shine in the diadem of the prince and brighten the splendours of empire, so the servants of God are often, unconsciously to themselves, preparing for a destination which neither they nor their friends had before contemplated.

III. GOD NEVER SUFFERS THE POWERS WHICH HE HAS CONFERRED UPON ANY OF HIS SERVANTS TO REMAIN LONG UNUSED. Men, if left to themselves, may suffer their talents to rust, their energies to slumber, and may not perceive when they ought to start in the career of usefulness. But when the time is come that God hath set, then the instrument He has prepared shall be introduced. No sooner, accordingly, was Paul converted than he cries out, "What shall I do?" So when Cornelius and his household had been prepared, Peter is sent for, and is found ready; and the vision "of the man of Macedonia" caused Paul to gather that the Lord had called him to preach the gospel in that unthought of region.

IV. IT BELONGS TO GOD TO FIX THE SCENE OF THE MINISTRY OF EACH OF HIS SERVANTS. He prescribed to Paul, when "He said unto him, Depart," whither he should go in general: and in the course of his travels the great Master always guided the steps of this His missionary. And to Him this prerogative still belongs; and surely it well becomes a servant of God to consult His mind and will, and to submit with alacrity to the heavenly destination in such matters. Woe to him if he consults with secular and selfish interests! Should he, like Jonah, decline any service to which God calls him, he shall find that God can follow him.

V. THE REGION TO WHICH A MINISTER OF GOD IS DESTINED MAY BE GREATLY REMOTE. Most frequently He allows His servants to labour in their own country. Thus the eleven apostles continued to minister in Judaea, while Paul went forth to the Gentiles. Nor in vain. His servant obeyed, and was blessed. So Abram, being called of God to follow Him to a land unknown, "by faith went out, not knowing whither he went," and God prospered him greatly.

VI. WITH THE DIVINE COMMISSION IN HIS HAND, NO MINISTER OF THE LORD JESUS NEED FEAR TO GO WHEREVER HIS GREAT MASTER SHALL SEND HIM. Far be it for us to make light of the difficulties connected with a mission of this character. Still the Lord is everywhere with His servants, and he who trusts Him shall not want support, even in a strange land, and amid an unknown people.

VII. THE WORK TO WHICH GOD CALLS HIS SERVANTS EVERYWHERE, at home and abroad, is GREAT AND HONOURABLE — glorifying to Himself and beneficial to man (Acts 26:16-18). Think upon —

1. The character of the work: it is highly intellectual and spiritual, holy and heavenly.

2. The subject of it. "Should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

3. The object of it — to save perishing souls.

4. The issue of it. It leads to an acceptance the most honourable, to a commendation the most enrapturing, to rewards the most glorious.

VIII. THROUGH DIVINE MERCY, THE SUCCESS OF SUCH MISSIONARIES WILL BE PROPORTIONED TO THE DIFFICULTY OF THE ENTERPRISE AND THE DIGNITY OF THE WORK. When Paul began his course no instrument could appear more inadequate, no attempt more unpromising. Yet what mighty success attended the ministry of the devoted apostle! Conclusion: Learn —

1. The great and universal rule of Christian obedience. It is to comply in all things with the Divine will.

2. The glory of Divine grace as a practical principle. You see in the example of Paul what it will prompt a man to undertake and to achieve.

3. The best sphere of duty — that which God assigns, be it abroad or at home.

4. The blessed consequences of simple devotedness in a servant of God.

(J. Mitchell, D. D.)

II. A CALL TO THE WORK OF MISSIONS THEREFORE CAN ONLY BE ANALOGOUS TO THE QUESTION WHETHER A MINISTER IS TO BE SETTLED IN ONE PLACE RATHER THAN ANOTHER. How is a man to decide this point? The question assumes that —

1. The Lord has a purpose in regard to the location of His ministers.(1) This is inferred from —(a) The doctrine of providence, which teaches that God's purpose extends to all things, and that He overrules all things to the accomplishment of His purpose. The place of our birth, our education, profession, and field of labour are all included in His plan.(b) The doctrine of Christ's headship and guidance of His Church by His Spirit, by which He dispenses gifts to each one according to His will, and leads His people in the way in which they should go.(2) It follows from His peculiar relation to ministers. They are stars in His hand, and He assigns to each his sphere. They are His ambassadors, and He sends each on his own mission. They are His labourers, etc. We find, therefore, that He sent Jonah to Nineveh, Paul to the heathen, Peter to the circumcision.

2. He makes that purpose known.(1) This must be inferred from the nature of the case. We are rational creatures and are governed by rational means. If God has a design for us to accomplish He must therefore make it known.(2) As a matter of experience we find that God does make known His purpose. He did so in the case of prophets and apostles, and does so in the case of ordinary ministers. It is not to be inferred, however, that this is always done in such a way as to preclude our investigation, nor so as to prevent mistake. A man may mistake and go counter to God's will, and the consequences are disastrous. We ought therefore to give the matter careful consideration.

3. How does God reveal His will to ministers as to where they shall labour?(1) By inward dealings.(a) He furnishes them with gifts requisite to some special field of labour.(b) He addresses their understandings, presenting the wants of different parts of the field; the facilities for usefulness; the demand for labourers.(c) He addresses their conscience.(d) He addresses their hearts, awakens an interest in particular portions of the field , and infuses into them a desire for the work.(2) By outward dispensations.(a) He removes obstacles out of the way, such as want of health, obligations to parents, etc.(b) He sends messages to them by friends.(c) He stirs up the Church to call them here or there.

III. THE DUTY OF CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY.

1. To feel that they are bound to go wherever God calls them — that it is not for them to choose.

2. To feel perfectly submissive and say, "What shall I do, Lord?"

3. To investigate the subject, and use all the means to come to an intelligent decision.

IV. THE BLESSEDNESS OF MISSION WORK, because —

1. Its results are so glorious.

2. It is so peculiarly unearthly.

3. The promises are so abundant to those who forsake houses, lands, friends, etc., for Christ's sake.

(C. Hodge, D. D.)