The charge given by the manifested Savior to the stricken and awakened Saul is one which, in a true sense, though in smaller measure, we can apply to ourselves. We look at -

I. THE TWOFOLD RELATION IN WHICH HE WAS TO STAND. "To make thee a minister and a witness." Paul was to be

(1) related to Christ as his servant, and to be

(2) related to his fellow-men as their teacher. We are to engage in every Christian work as those who carry with them everywhere a sense of obedience to a Divine Master. We are to do and say nothing which we feel that he does not desire us to do or to say. We are also to feel flint, in regard to our fellows, we are as those who have a Divine message to deliver. If we are content to expound our own views, to establish our own position, or to secure a large following for ourselves, we fall miserably short of our true vocation; we are called to convey Christ's message to mankind.

II. THE TWOFOLD SOURCE WHENCE HE WAS TO DRAW HIS MESSAGE. He was to bear witness "both of these things which he had seen, and of those things in the which Christ would appear unto him" (ver. 16). Not only was he to narrate what he already knew, but he was to convey and enforce the truths which were soon to be revealed to him. We are to draw continually on this double source. We are

(1) to repeat the facts and truths with which past experience and study have made us familiar; and also

(2) to unfold those later and maturer views which our Lord will be revealing to our open and inquiring minds.

III. THE TWOFOLD PROTECTION OF WHICH HE WAS ASSURED. "Delivering thee from the (Jewish) people, and from the Gentiles" (ver. 17). He was to encounter serious perils and difficulties, but he would escape the one and surmount the other. He would find himself opposed and thwarted by the Jews and the Gentiles, by those who were "nigh" and by those who were "afar off," by the children of privilege from whom he might have hoped to receive help, and by the sons of ignorance from whom he might have expected to endure hostility. By whomsoever assailed, the Divine Savior would be his defense. We, too, may expect to be opposed by two parties - by those within and by "them that are without," by the heirs of privilege and by the aliens and strangers. If we are faithful and trustful, we may safely cast ourselves on the care of our Divine Friend, who, if he does not save us from, will assuredly save us in, the disappointments and the sufferings which will threaten us as champions of his cause.

IV. THE TWOFOLD ISSUE OF HIS WORK.

1. Spiritual illumination. Those to whom he was to go would turn "from darkness to light," their "eyes having been opened." Having been blind to the existence, or to the nature and character, or to the claims of God; or blind to the worth of the human soul, or to the true end and aim of human life, or to the solemnity of death and judgment; or blind to the excellency of holy service, to the beauty of holiness, to the blessedness of consecration and self-denial; they were to perceive, to understand, to rejoice in the truth, to walk in the light. Their experience in the spiritual realm would answer to his in the material world who should awake from blackest night to brightest day.

2. Deliverance. "From the power of Satan irate God" (ver. 18). In ignorance and sin men are the bondmen of the evil one, held in his cords, subject to his sway. Delivered from the power of sin, they become the freedmen of Christ; they walk in "the glorious liberty of the children of God." From a degrading bondage they are rescued, that they may rejoice in a holy, elevating freedom.

V. THE TWOFOLD BLESSING HE WAS TO PROMISE.

1. Forgiveness of sins.

2. Sanctification - "that they may receive," etc. (ver. 18). Immediately on the exercise of faith they were to receive the abounding mercy of God, that "forgiveness which means not only the not holding them under condemnation, but also the positive reception of them into Divine favor, the admission of them to the Father's table, the reinstatement of them into all the privileges of sonship. And gradually they were to rise into a state of sanctification, leaving old and evil things behind, and reaching forth to that which is before; attaining to the stature of Christian manhood, becoming holy even as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16).

VI. THE ONE CONDITION ON WHICH HE MUST INSIST. By faith that is in me." Every blessing promised was and is to be attained by faith in Jesus Christ himself. Not the acceptance of a creed, nor admission to a Church, nor submission to a ceremony, but a living faith in a living Savior; the cordial acceptance of Jesus Christ himself as the Divine Savior, the rightful Lord, the all-sufficient Friend of the human heart. - C.

If you had given you what was asserted to be a speech made long ago by your father, the first reading of it would settle the matter. Knowing your father, his sentiments, his mode of expression, you would be able to say instantly whether the speech was authentic or fabricated. We ought by this time to know enough of Christ's manner to be able to say whether any speech purporting to be His was actually ever spoken by His lips. Is this? Let us see. Christ is reported as saying —

1. "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose." Here I recall the words which made the first ministers, "Follow Me." He is as personal as ever.

2. "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make —" Here I remember the word, "I will make you fishers of men." Jesus Christ is still Creator. The speaker does not propose to modify, add to, rearrange.

3. "To make thee a minister" — that is a new word — "and a witness" — that is an old word. "Ye are," said Jesus Christ, "witnesses of these things."

4. Proceed still further: "a witness both of these things which thou hast seen." Why, that is the old method: "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see." We speak as eyewitnesses; we are not quoters from authors of an ancient date.

5. Proceed further: "and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee." Jesus said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." There is no end to the meaning of revelation. There is no end to the literature of the alphabet. The letters are but six-and-twenty in number, and no man attempts to add another! It is the same with the New Testament. Observe, nothing is added to the revelation. However large the book, it is all in the alphabet; however magnificent the unfoldment of the truth by human eloquence, the truth itself is the distinct and direct gift of God alone.

6. Proceed now to ver. 17: "Delivering them from the people and from the Gentiles." Here is the Lord's own speech: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves," etc. It is a marvellous thing if this was invented. It is impossible, considering Saul's antecedents, that he could have invented a speech so perfect, not only in the letter, but in the spirit.

7. The eighteenth verse is a summary of all that Jesus began both to do and to say. The miracles and the gospels are all there. For example, "To open their eyes." That is what Jesus Christ was always doing. He could never be at rest in the presence of the blind. Again and again He said, "According to your faith, be it unto you." Christ will not have any blind followers.

8. "To turn them from darkness to light." When did He ever turn men from light to darkness? Whenever He visited a town, the inhabitants were startled by an excess of intellectual lustre; old thoughts stood up in new meanings when He breathed them; the law itself became a kind of gospel when He repronounced its awful words.

9. "And from the power of Satan unto God." When did He ever reverse that process? His first battle was with the devil in the wilderness, and His last battle was with the devil on the Cross.

10. Go further: "that they may receive forgiveness of sins." That is His very word: "Son, daughter, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." That is not the kind of word which a bad man would be likely to invent.

11. But how was this forgiveness to be accomplished? and how was it be followed? By "inheritance among them which are sanctified." The whole process is set down to the action of "faith." Have we ever heard that word before? Why, the word is the keyword of Christ's ministry. Conclusion: So far the speech is self-proving. I find in it no syllable or tone that is not in vital accord with everything we have read in the Gospels ever spoken or done by the Son of God. This is a field of evidence to which I would invite every student of the Scriptures. Read the Book carefully through with a view to see how far its parts are confirmed by one another, and how far even apparent discrepancies admit of a kind of reconciliation which adds infinite force to the substantial argument for the unity of the Scriptures. Perhaps a more vivid instance of confirmation could hardly be produced than the one which is now before us. Paul is supposed to be in a fanatical state of mind; he is struck down to the ground, blinded, disabled; he is supposedly the victim of an hallucination of the most complete kind; yet when he himself reports what happened to him, no slip or flaw can be found in his evidence which throws the slightest doubt upon the identity of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the accepted Gospels. More than Chat, everything is here which is needed. Take this as a programme for the revolution, regeneration, and perfecting of the world, and add to it one line that is not involved in its unfathomable wisdom. It cannot be done.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

? —

1. Notice the swiftness of the revelation of God's purpose as to the apostle of the Gentiles. An ordinary call to the ministry usually involves long processes of self-examination and observation of God's guiding providences.

2. The distinctness with which Paul comprehended his mission is notable. He continually declares his one, only aim in life to "apprehend (or lay hold of) Him," he says, "who has laid hold of me."

3. This obedient spirit deserves distinct mention. "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." He never was. At the end of his life he wrote, "I have kept the faith." But turning away from these and other lines of discussion, let us accentuate the proposition that God has a purpose in our salvation. We ought to know what that purpose is. Am I saved merely to have my name entered on a Church roll? to keep up a form of godliness?No; I am saved for a two-fold purpose — viz., to glorify God's grace in my personal salvation and sanctification, and also to advance the kingdom of God in the world.

1. We infer, first of all, the need of the illuminating light from heaven to make us realise our high calling of God.

2. Again, we see our obligation to fulfil Christ's purpose in our salvation as Paul saw the purpose of his salvation and accomplished it.

(G. E. Reed.)

I. The object of the Christian ministry is THE EXHIBITION OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD. That there is a God, "all Nature cries aloud through all her works" (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:20). But "Nature is a speechless beauty, waiting in silence till man shall find leisure and inclination to he instructed by dumb signs." She discloses some traces of his wisdom, goodness, and power; but a sinner, under a sense of his guilt, might remain in her presence for ages, without discovering what is essential to his relief. It was reserved to the gospel to reveal the character of Him whose perfections are unceasingly adored in the world of light, whose will is law, to whose designs all beings and all events are subservient, whose hands supply the wants of every creature, whose heart compassionates the children of sorrow, whose frown is hell, whose smile is heaven. Even the Old Testament afforded but partial discoveries of Him. A veil still remained over Him; which veil the gospel has drawn aside. His holiness, His justice, and His mercy, shine in the clearest light; there, if genuine Christians, we effectually discern the doctrines which demand our faith, the privileges which claim our gratitude, the promises which encourage our hope, the principles which compose our character.

II. The Christian ministry is designed to promote THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF SATAN AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THAT OF CHRIST. The dominion of Satan commenced at an early period. Its foundation was laid in falsehood. The supports of his throne are delusion and depravity, wrought into a thousand fantastic and ten thousand odious forms. But the usurper was not permitted to reign without control. His final defeat was predicted in the very scene which had been disgraced by his victory. Then was the assurance given, that "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head." At length the Messiah came, for the glorious purpose of recovering this colony of rebels to the duty they had renounced, and the felicity they had forfeited. His triumphs began in the wilderness, where He foiled the tempter, and compelled him to retire; they were extended, when "the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name." But it was after His resurrection and ascension that this mighty Conqueror shone forth in the splendour of His. sublimest achievements. The commission with which He invested the apostles was accompanied with power from on high; and He "bare them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost." A thousand delusions were scattered by the beams of truth; the slumbers of insensibility were shaken off; the rock of impenitence was melted; faith opened to the moral wanderer a heavenly prospect; peace cheered the bosom that had throbbed with anguish; and the sceptre of righteousness was swayed over the faculties, passions, and appetites, that had been perverted and enslaved by the tyranny of hell.

III. The Christian ministry is established for the purpose of LEADING THOSE AMONG WHOM IT IS EXERCISED TO THE PRACTISE OF "PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION," and thus effecting the most important change that can be introduced into the condition of mankind (ver. 18). Accordingly, we find the same apostle afterwards stating (Titus 2:11, 12). Such is the influence of the gospel on the character of everyone by whom it is cordially received. It not only reveals a Saviour, but is the instrument of conveying salvation. Through the medium of the gospel the Holy Spirit enlightens the understanding, subdues vicious propensities, restores the Divine image, and prepares the frail tenant of earth for the inheritance reserved in heaven.

IV. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY WILL RESULT IN THE BRIGHTEST MANIFESTATION OF THE SAVIOUR'S GLORY. To Him it owes its origin, its support, its conductors, and its efficacy. He is the Subject of it. Apart from His dignity and condescension; His virtues and sufferings; His doctrines, commandments, and promises; the miracles which He wrought, the atonement which He made, His triumph over His death, His constant intercession, and the grace which flows from His inexhaustible fulness — the Christian ministry were a mere name, and those who engage in it only beat the air. But when a man, saved from eternal ruin ascends before a congregation inspired with grateful astonishment, and anxious. to see every hearer a participant of his own felicity, how can he forget his Divine benefactor, or allude to Him in obscure language, and with faint regard! Behold Him, and all who, being honoured with the same office, press forward in the same spirit, continually insisting on the all-important theme. They are the servants of Jesus Christ, and they urge His authority; they live upon His smile, and they want words to express the magnitude of the privilege; they are the almoners of His bounty, and they beseech, as on the bended knee, their fellow mortals to receive it. Great is the reward which awaits them all.

(O. A. Jeary.)

I. A WORK WROUGHT BY GOD UPON THE MINISTER.

1. Subjugation. While a man is a rebel, the Lord does not appoint him an ambassador; while he is dead in sin, a preacher of the way of life. Paul was struck down; for if he had not fallen, he would not have known how to lift others up. He remained blind for three days; otherwise he would not have been qualified to deal with others in darkness. See what God does in His ministers to fit them for your conversion. In order to slay your sins the shaft has been polished. Each of the best locks made by our eminent locksmiths is unique, and each needs its own special key: so God fits certain men for reaching certain men.

2. Encouragement. "Rise, and stand upon thy feet." Men can hardly be very useful till they cease to be despondent, and become energetic and hopeful. I have noticed that those who do not believe that they will be successful seldom are so; but those who rise and stand upon their feet, and manfully expect that God will bless them, are not disappointed.

3. Ordination. And to this end he must see the Lord for himself. Our Lord's appearing —(1) Makes him willing to be a servant, for that is the meaning of the word "minister." When the renewed mind beholds the Lord, it cries out, "What wilt Thou have me to do?"(2) Qualifies him to act as a witness. We cannot bear witness to that which we have never seen. Hearsay is of small value. Heads are won by reasoning, but hearts are won by witness bearing.

4. Continuous instruction. He is to be a witness not only of those things which he has seen, but also of those things in the which the Lord will yet appear unto him.

5. Constant preservation. "Delivering thee from the people," etc. Paul's life was always in danger, and yet never in real peril, for the Lord was his keeper. So shall every true servant of Christ be kept as with a garrison from all evil.

II. THE WORK WROUGHT IN THE HEARER.

1. Illumination: the Lord sends His servant "to open their eyes." Men are born blind, and continue blind till, by the power of Jesus, sight is given to them. Your education and surroundings have perhaps placed a film of prejudice over your eyes; if a candid, childlike spirit were given you, you would see. Or possibly some favourite sin is like a cataract upon the eye of your conscience, and you cannot see the evil of sin or the beauty of holiness. Or it may be that unbelief darkens your soul.

2. Conversion: "to turn them from darkness to light." What a blessed turning is that which makes us face truth, and goodness, and God, and heaven; and leave ignorance, sin, and hell behind.

3. Translation. As the soul is brought into a new element, so is it also brought under a new government. "From the power of Satan unto God." Somebody says, "I do not understand how this can be performed in a minute." Well, two men are fighting, and we beg them to leave off. Do you recommend them to leave off gradually? If anybody held a pistol at my head, I should not say, "Take it away by degrees." Changes of mind such as are necessary to conversion had need be quick when sin is to be forsaken, for every moment deepens the guilt. It may seem a very gradual process by which a man who was dead comes to life; but for certain there is a point at which he left the dead and became alive, and that point God sees very clearly, even though we do not.

4. Complete forgiveness. The same moment that we receive Christ, we "receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified." What a blessing to become an heir of God! To what choice company is a sinner introduced when he believes in Jesus! He is a freeholder among the burgesses of the New Jerusalem.

5. And all this has for its certificate and mark of genuineness these words — "By faith that is in Me." The whole process of salvation is by faith.

III. A WORK WHICH MUST BE DONE BY THE HEARER HIMSELF. This text speaks of Paul being an instrument in the hands of God of opening men's eyes, etc., and they seem to be passive; but now they are called upon to be active. We are created thinking, intelligent beings, and we are saved as such. Never let us forget either the free agency of man or the purposes of God. Grace reigns not over slaves, but over obedient children.

1. You must repent. It is not the work of God the Holy Ghost to repent for you, but to lead you to repent.

2. You must turn to God. Your prayer may be, "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned"; but the command is, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" God will turn you, but you have willingly to yield, and thus turn yourself.

3. You must do works meet for repentance; for wherever there is true faith there will be corresponding works, such as these: restitution if you have wronged anyone, reconciliation if you are at enmity with anyone, acknowledgment if you have spoken falsely, giving up of evil habits, and an earnest endeavour to be pure and holy.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. ITS THEME. What had he to testify?

1. All that he had seen of Christ. He had seen and heard great things amidst the bright light which struck him to the ground.

2. All that he should see of Christ. He would receive many more communications. A true minister will be always receiving fresh communications of truth, and he must proclaim the new as well as the old.

II. ITS BENEFICENCE. He had to effect —

1. The highest good.(1) Spiritual illumination: "Open their eyes." An expression this implying —

(a)The moral blindness of the sinner.

(b)The restorative character of Christianity — it does not give new eyes, but opens the old ones.

(c)The genuineness of Christ as a reformer — the design of impostors is to close eyes.(2) Soul emancipation: "From the power of Satan unto God." Satan enslaves men by lust, worldliness, prejudice, superstition, etc. The minister's work is to manumit the slave.(3) Divine forgiveness: "That they may receive forgiveness of sins." This act is represented in the Bible as cancelling, forgetting, drowning sin; separating the sinner from his sin.(4) Eternal blessedness: "Inheritance amongst them which are sanctified," etc.

(a)Legitimate possession — having a kind of right to it.

(b)Social intercourse "among them," not a scene of isolation.

(c)Moral purity "sanctified." The Christian circle is holy.

2. The highest good by a simple method. By no onerous labour or costly sacrifices, but by "faith that is in Me"; not in priests, not in human creeds, not in the opinions of men about Me. Faith in Christ is not a mere thing of the intellect; it involves the deepest sympathies of the heart. Nor is it even a thing of thought and feeling combined; it takes the form of living acts; it moulds the life.(1) Faith is in itself one of the easiest acts a man can perform. A child can believe; the propensity to believe is one of the strongest in human nature. Credulity has ruined the world.(2) Faith in itself is one of the most influential acts. What a man really believes sways his thoughts, controls his passions, and regulates his life.

III. ITS FULFILMENT. "I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." He discharged this commission.

1. Self-denyingly.

2. Continuously. He began when he was converted, and went on. This is the true order. Begin with those nearest at hand.

3. Reformatively. His grand aim was spiritually to reform men, which includes two things —(1) A renewed mind. "Repent" — a thorough change — and turn.(2) A renewed life. "Works meet for repentance": the conduct answering the new state of the soul.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

This is the kind of ministry which Christ wishes to establish. No other statement is needed. This conception is such as never entered into the uninspired mind, and, in particular, never could have entered into a mind constituted as was Saul's.

I. "RISE AND STAND UPON THY FEET." Here is the typical manliness of the Christian ministry. We do not want crawling, fawning men, but men who can stand up and show their stature and force. The minister, realising Christ's conception, does not apologise for his existence: he stands upon his feet. Jesus did not speak to Saul as he lay down in the dust. He will not send frightened things about His messages and errands; He will have the whole man at his best. But what kind of manliness? Only that manliness which is made possible by Christ. To stand without permission to stand is impertinence; to stand in obedience to Divine injunction is humility. God can make men sit down, roll in the dust of the ground; and it is out of such lying that the true strength comes. If we have not first been laid down by the Divine power, we cannot stand in the Divine strength. The command is a royal command. He who has stood before Christ may well stand before kings. We get over all our nervousness when we are with the Lord. Fear God, and have no other fear.

II. "FOR I HAVE APPEARED UNTO THEE TO MAKE THEE A MINISTER." Then ministers are not man made; they are not turned out by machinery. Only Christ can make ministers. We have forgotten this; we have taken to making a species of ecclesiastical pottery. We do not read, "I have appeared unto thee to make thee an equal, a priest," but "a minister" — i.e., a servant, a slave. There is no mistaking the minister which Christ makes. The seal of Christ is not always the kind we like; but somewhere there is the indubitable sign — in one man in the intellect, in another in the tender heart; here in the eloquence that fills the ear with delight, and there in the pleading, holy intercession that lifts the listening soul into the quietude of heaven.

III. CHRIST MUST NOT ONLY FIND THE MINISTER, HE MUST FIND THE SERMON.

1. "A minister and a witness of these things which thou hast seen." Not "those things which thou hast imagined," invented; so that a man denying thy ministry must first deny thy character. Wondrous ministry! the soul continually upon oath, the voice forbidden to utter anything for the sake of uttering it, and charged to tell what the soul has already heard. No man could have imagined such a call, and especially no man like Paul.

2. "Of those things in the which I will appear unto thee." There is a growing revelation. Christianity has a future as well as a past. Expect the vision; wait for the additional revelation. It will not be anything new in the sense of unrelated, but new in the sense of development, progress from the thing already in the soul. Sometimes we say of a sermon, "How large a sermon from so small a text!" No. In every acorn there is enough to clothe all the mountains of the earth with umbrageous oaks — forests out of which navies might be cut and palaces might be built. There is nothing new in the oak; everything was in the acorn. It is so when Jesus comes to us — the same Jesus, the same grace, the same Spirit, but growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

IV. "DELIVERING THEE FROM THE PEOPLE AND FROM THE GENTILES." Shall I, then, be in the clutch of evil men? Yes; but thou shalt be delivered from them. Every minister has his stormy career if he be a faithful minister. Sometimes a minister will tell you — as if he were preaching his own funeral sermon — that he never had a difference with any human creature. What an awful life to have lived! Hear the light saying, "I never had a battle with darkness!" The true minister cannot have a peaceful and luxurious life. Who wants the minister in his proper capacity? Not the makers of ill-gotten gain, profane men, worldly men, self-idolaters, nor men whose books have never been audited by pure sunlight. Many want him as a companion, a man as well-read as themselves, exchanging the pleasant word; but who wants him as a representative of the throne of God? Let any minister try that course, and he will soon see that it is impossible to be popular.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, Paul, SaulCaesarea, Damascus, Jerusalem, JudeaDelivering, Gentiles, Jewish, Nations, Open, Rescuing, Safe, Save, Sending, Taking1. Paul, in the presence of Agrippa, declares his life from his childhood;
12. and how miraculously he was converted, and called to his apostleship.
24. Festus charges him with being insane, whereunto he answers modestly.
28. Agrippa is almost persuaded to be a Christian.
31. The whole company pronounces him innocent.

Acts 26:17

     6738   rescue
     7510   Gentiles

Acts 26:9-18

     5108   Paul, life of
     8427   evangelism, kinds of

Acts 26:12-18

     5109   Paul, apostle
     6629   conversion, examples
     7707   apostles, designation

Acts 26:12-19

     1469   visions

Acts 26:15-18

     6654   forgiveness, Christ's ministry
     7740   missionaries, call

Acts 26:15-23

     7512   Gentiles, in NT

Acts 26:16-18

     6628   conversion, God's demand

Acts 26:17-18

     2324   Christ, as Saviour
     4811   darkness, symbol of sin
     4836   light, and people of God
     5038   mind, the human
     6634   deliverance
     6660   freedom, through Christ
     7950   mission, of Christ
     8022   faith, basis of salvation
     8738   evil, victory over

Acts 26:17-19

     1466   vision

Acts 26:17-20

     5263   communication

April 20 Evening
Who art thou Lord? I am Jesus.--ACTS 26:15. It is I; be not afraid.--When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, . . . thy Saviour. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.--Emmanuel, God with us. Thou shalt …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 26 Evening
The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.--REV. 21:23. I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.--Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Remonstrances
'And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why perseoutest thou Me! it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.'--ACTS xxvi. 14. 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?' No. But God can change the skin, because He can change the nature. In this story of the conversion of the Apostle Paul--the most important thing that happened that day--we have an instance how brambles may become vines; tares …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Faith in Christ
'...Faith that is in Me.'--ACTS xxvi. 18. It is commonly said, and so far as the fact is concerned, said truly, that what are called the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity are rather found in the Epistles than in the Gospels. If we wish the clearest statements of the nature and person of Christ, we turn to Paul's Epistle to the Colossians. If we wish the fullest dissertation upon Christ's work as a sacrifice, we go to the Epistle to the Hebrews. If we seek to prove that men are justified by …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

'The Heavenly vision'
'Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.' Acts xxvi. 19. This is Paul's account of the decisive moment in his life on which all his own future, and a great deal of the future of Christianity and of the world, hung. The gracious voice had spoken from heaven, and now everything depended on the answer made in the heart of the man lying there blind and amazed. Will he rise melted by love, and softened into submission, or hardened by resistance to the call of the exalted …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

'Me a Christian!'
'Then Agrlppa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.'--ACTS xxvi 28. This Agrippa was son of the other Herod of whom we hear in the Acts as a persecutor. This one appears from other sources, to have had the vices but not the force of character of his bad race. He was weak and indolent, a mere hanger-on of Rome, to which he owed his kingdom, and to which he stoutly stuck during all the tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem. In position and in character (largely resulting from the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

'Before Governors and Kings'
'Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20. But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judsea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. 21. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Eighteenth Day. Holiness and Faith.
That they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.'--Acts xxvi. 18. The more we study Scripture in the light of the Holy Spirit, or practise the Christian life in His power, the deeper becomes our conviction of the unique and central place faith has in God's plan of salvation. And we learn, too, to see that it is meet and right that it should be so: the very nature of things demands it. Because God is a Spiritual and Invisible Being, every …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Nature of Enthusiasm
"And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself." Acts 26:24. 1. And so say all the world, the men who know not God, of all that are of Paul's religion: of every one who is so a follower of him as he was of Christ. It is true, there is a sort of religion, nay, and it is called Christianity too, which may be practised without any such Imputation, which is generally allowed to be consistent with common sense, --that is, a religion of form, a round of outward duties, performed in a …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Almost Christian
"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Acts 26:28. AND many there are who go thus far: ever since the Christian religion was in the world, there have been many in every age and nation who were almost persuaded to be Christians. But seeing it avails nothing before God to go only thus far, it highly imports us to consider, First. What is implied in being almost, Secondly. What in being altogether, a Christian. I. (I.) 1. Now, in the being almost a Christian is implied, First, heathen honesty. …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus
I intend, this morning, to address myself more particularly to those who fear not the Lord Jesus Christ, but on the contrary, oppose him. I think I may be quite certain that I have none here who go the length of desiring to see the old persecution of the church revived. I do not think there is an Englishman, however much he may hate religion, who would wish to see the stake again in Smithfield, and the burning pile consuming the saints. There may be some who hate them as much, but still not in that …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Acts 26:24-29. Portraits.
[10] "And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. "But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. "For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. "Then Agrippa said …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

The Publisher to the Reader.
There are no sermons I know of any divine or pastor in this kingdom, that have been more frequently printed, or more universally read and esteemed, than the elegant and judicious discourses of Mr. Binning, which were published after his death, at different times, in four small volumes. As there was a great demand for these valuable writings, about twenty six years ago; so these printed copies of them were compared with his own manuscript copy now in my hand, carefully revised, and then printed, in …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Tillotson -- the Reasonableness of a Resurrection
John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, renowned as a preacher, was born at Sowerby, in Yorkshire, in 1630, the son of an ardent Independent. After graduating from Clare College, Cambridge, he began to preach in 1661, in connection with the Presbyterian wing of the Church of England. He, however, submitted to the Act of Uniformity the following year, and in 1663 was inducted into the rectory of Veddington, Suffolk. He was also appointed preacher to Lincoln's Inn, was made prebendary of Canterbury …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

Sanctified by Faith
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."--Heb. 11:6. "That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."--Acts 26:18. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand."--Rom. 5:1, 2. Faith in the blood …
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

The Advanced Christian Reminded of the Mercies of God, and Exhorted to the Exercise of Habitual Love to Him, and Joy in Him.
1. A holy joy in God, our privilege as well as our duty.--2. The Christian invited to the exercise of it.--3. By the consideration of temporal mercies.--4. And of spiritual favors.--5. By the views of eternal happiness.--6. And of the mercies of God to others, the living and the dead.--7. The chapter closes with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God. 1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an examination of his spiritual …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Transformed
C. P. C. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 "I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me."--Acts xxvi. 18. Dark lay the plain, a tangled wilderness, And dark the mountains in the mists afar-- A land of darkness where no order is, Nor moon, nor star-- There was the line of drear confusion drawn, The stones of emptiness lay …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

The Gospel According to Paul
C. P. C. Acts xxvi. 16 From the glory and the gladness, From His secret place; From the rapture of His Presence From the radiance of His Face-- Christ, the Son of God, hath sent me Through the midnight lands; Mine the mighty ordination Of the pierced Hands. Mine the message grand and glorious Strange unsealed surprise-- That the goal is God's Beloved, Christ in Paradise. Hear me, weary men and women, Sinners dead in sin; I am come from heaven to tell you Of the love within; Not alone of God's …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Defending Field Preaching
Between four and five we set out from Roughlee. But observing several parties of men upon the hills and suspecting their design, we put on and passed the lane they were making for before they came. One of our brothers, not riding so fast, was intercepted by them. They immediately knocked him down, and how it was that he got from among them he knew not. Before seven we reached Widdop. The news of what had passed at Barrowford made us all friends. The person in whose house Mr. B. preached, sent and …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Word
The third way to escape the wrath and curse of God, and obtain the benefit of redemption by Christ, is the diligent use of ordinances, in particular, the word, sacraments, and prayer.' I begin with the best of these ordinances. The word . . . which effectually worketh in you that believe.' 1 Thess 2:13. What is meant by the word's working effectually? The word of God is said to work effectually when it has the good effect upon us for which it was appointed by God; when it works powerful illumination …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Paul on his Own Conversion
'And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why perseoutest thou Me? 8. And I answered, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of Him that spake to me. 10. And I said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Saving Faith.
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.--ACTS xvi. 30,31. This is one of the most abused texts in the Bible, and one which, perhaps, has been made to do quite as much work for the devil as for God. Let every saint present, ask in faith for the light of the Holy Ghost, while we try rightly to apply it. Let us enquire:-- 1. Who are to believe? 2. When are they to believe? 3. How are …
Catherine Booth—Godliness

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