Acts 9:6

Act_9:6

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will Thou have me to do?

Saul of Tarsus converted

These words--

I. Are illustrative of a singular transformation of mind. We would not forget the attendant miracles. There is the light, the voice; but we now would speak of the secret place of the spirit. There shines a more marvellous light; there resounds a voice, which shakes not the earth only, but also heaven. This is not the effect of surprise. Astonishment is mingled with it; but it was not the ordinary emotion; it was amazement, admiration--lofty, tender, profound, awestricken. It is not the working of self-righteousness. Belief but seeks its proof; submission but asks its test. It is the loosing of the rebels weapon from the rebels hand. It is not going about to establish a righteousness of its own, it is the incense of that sacrifice which God approves. This language is distinguished by--

1. Deep compunction. He feels that his sin is of no common aggravation. It is as though all the strokes he had ever dealt now rebounded on his spirit. It is not mortified pride, abortive ambition, lacerating remorse. It is a gentler and a more amiable humiliation of spirit. Still it is bitter. Here is self-reproach. Conscience has started from its sleep. It is a godly sorrow working repentance, which needeth not to be repented of. And until we are thus lowered we are strangers to that repentance which the apostle embodies as he describes.

2. Strange illumination. The beam is plucked out from his eye; the veil is torn away from his heart. What a world of new interests, realities, relationships, burst upon him! His right is wrong; his faith is unbelief; his earnestness is treason; his truth is error. All those old things must pass away. For the first time patriarchs and prophets are seen as frowning upon him; for the first time, the hope of Israel and its consolation condemns him; for the first time, the lively oracles ring alarms of danger in his ear. And then Jesus stands up to him, no longer a butt for ridicule, a stumbling stone for reproach, but altogether lovely. How could he have wronged that beauty that fills heaven with praise?

3. Earnest devotedness. It is not impulse--the relief of a mind bewildered and perplexed. There is an intentness upon all that is benevolent. The malignity is turned to love to Him whom he has till then hated, and to that people whom he has hitherto oppressed. And mark how this tendency of his soul, sudden as it was, was sustained. Enters he the polished city? Is he wrecked upon the savage isle? Is he dragged into the amphitheatre, where execution awaits him? Still as serenely he cries with unshrinking spirit, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?

4. Entire revolution. Here is a new creature. He falls a sinner; he rises a saint. He falls an unbeliever; he rises a champion. He falls a hater of the gospel; he rises an apostle of it. He falls a blasphemer; he rises a martyr. He falls a hater of the Saviour; he rises, so that for him to live henceforth is Christ.

II. Suppose adequate causes for the production of such a change. The conversion of the apostle, though attended by prodigies, was no miracle itself, i.e., that which is opposed to the particular laws of the subject on which it is wrought. The change wrought upon the apostles mind is not contrary to the nature of that mind; it is contrary to its misdirection, enmity, darkness, but it is agreeable to its understanding, affections, and modes of volition. Yet at the same time it is all that is wonderful and there must be causes adequate for its production. It took place--

1. By the impress of power. This power is creative; it therefore acts immediately upon the mind. We have not access to each others mind, nor have angels; but at the same time there is a full access which God may claim. He knows the heart, and touches all its springs, and unlocks all its wards, and pursues all its avenues, and intricacies, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts. Think, therefore, of this energy as direct; coming from the Father of light and from the fountain of power, reaching at once the heart which, however rebel it may be, is under His control and sway. Nor is it different as to ourselves. We may not know the hour, but if we have ever the heart opened, the Lord hath opened it; if we have ever a will at one with God, He worked within us first to will and to do.

2. By the revelation of truth, It is not improbable that there was some natural process at work. Saul would know the types and predictions, so that when the beam fell upon them he had but to read them at once, and to construe them concerning Him whom he had hitherto opposed and withstood. But it was far more than a natural process. There came a light from God, not only in the sense of power, but in the sense of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And what truth was disclosed? The truth as it is in Jesus. He seized it. It was not by an intuition--because that implies some power of his own; but it had all the rapidity of such an intuition. He saw it in its dimensions, in its proportions, in its harmony; the system arose before him in its symmetry, in its breadth, in its perfection. Everything connected with the Saviour. The same as to ourselves. Others may teach us; but unless we have the teaching of the Spirit, taking of the things of Christ, there may be light in us, but the light is darkness--and how great is that darkness!

3. By the sensibility of love. We may think of that soul as replete with all the most dire passions of enmity and of revenge. But now comes the strongest of all attractions, the most potent of all influences--love to God and love to man. Jesus to him is precious. What would he not do, what not endure to show how he loves that Saviour, and all who exhibit His image and promote His cause? It is this that causes us to relent and makes us yield. When this love is shed abroad in our heart, every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

III. Furnish us with important lessons and rules for its investigation. Conversion may be considered a part of the gospel, as it is a doctrine always inculcated by it--and as it is a blessing accomplished wherever it is preached, and the effect of its being applied. And therefore we may take a view of Christianity beyond a mere theory of speculative truth; we may consider it as Gods constant doing in the earth. Now, as conversion amongst ourselves may be counterfeited, let us take this conversion and see how it will be to us a key to all.

1. Conversion is sovereign. For we cannot assign any reason why one man is converted and another is not. It is not of him willing, or him running, but of God showing mercy. You say, that there is a predisposition. But how came that predisposition? We do not mean to say that there are not reasons moving the Divine mind; but the reasons do not exist in the sinner himself. Think now of this man. You would have been surprised if Pilate had been the convert, or Caiaphas; why more surprised, then, that the convert is Saul of Tarsus? Have you any explanations to assign for it? There is one--one alone; He quickeneth whom He will.

2. Conversion is wrought by a power fully sufficient. It would have been easy to have dashed that vessel of wrath into pieces; but was it not difficult to make a chosen vessel of it, and to prepare it to glory? And yet there was no difficulty to that power which did it. Is anything too hard for the Lord? When we think of His power in conversion as equal to any power in the creation of a world or in the resurrection of the dead, then have we the right notion of that power; but not until then. It is power--but not mechanical, not physical--power expanding the powers, wielding the movements, brooding over the rudiments of the mind--the mind becoming supple, passive to that power; eager with all its energies still, with all its accountability and determinateness still--as the clay in the potters hand.

3. Conversion in itself must always be sudden; there can be no interval between an unconverted and a converted slate; we pass from death unto life. But then the consciousness of a change may not rest upon instantaneous evidence. But let us not argue against the suddenness of conversion.

4. Conversion may be accompanied with circumstances very uncommon and extreme. One heart shall open like the Philippian prison, battered by the earthquake and all its avenues and doors thrown open by the shock; another heart may open like the full-blown rose tremulous in the breeze, bathed with the dew, blushing to the sunbeam. If God takes the one method, or if He adopts the other, what is that to thee? Leave Him to work in His own way--according to His own pleasure.

5. We need not despair of the conversion of any. Have we any friends of whom we have said, There is no hope for them in God? Why? Because we have shaped our thoughts according to ourselves. But His thoughts are not our thoughts, etc. What if He have thoughts of peace after all? What if His ways are mercy and truth after all? The prey may still be taken from the mighty. Malefactor as he is, that day he may be with Jesus in paradise.

6. There must be a practical exhibition of our conversion. No matter what our reverie by day, or our vision by night, our conversion must be reduced to one standard; it speaks only one language--Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)

The law of Christian life

He who had come from heaven, and had stooped to conquer the heart of the proud Pharisee, must have a purpose in all this. To know that purpose is Pauls chief desire. It is only when the will is surrendered to the will of Christ, and Christ is taken as Saviour and Lord, that the life of God begins to grow in us. Viewing this subject broadly in relation to ourselves, let us learn first--

I. How desirable it is that we should all have from the beginning the plan of our life clearly before us. No work of any kind can be effectively done without a plan. The mind necessarily proceeds to action after processes of thought, prevision, anticipation of results and foreseen obstacles. Instinct acts from immediate impulse. The man who dispenses with purpose in action, and lives for the occasion, has no certainty, or consistency, is the slave of every passing impulse, and accomplishes little in the battle of life. If all nature were not bound together by a plan, it would be a chaos, in which kingdom would war against kingdom, and all would end in disaster. If the history of a country do not proceed upon a plan in which successive generations cooperate, there is no cumulative progress in its life. The Hebrew race followed a plan. Why was Carlyle able to accomplish so much and so well as a historian? Because in early days he selected his precise vocation as a historian, and settling down in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he, year after year, with growing power and speciality, dealt with the events of those times in his lives of Cromwell and of Frederick, and his history of the French Revolution. Why was Darwin able to effect so much for science? Because he recognised early in life as his special destiny the study of living forms, and the conditions of their existence, and gave all his life to that branch of science. Such a habit saves us from the weakening effect of distracting aims. It raises us above the power of opposing circumstances. It stimulates activity. It produces dependence upon God. It develops energy.

II. The plan of our life is in the mind of Christ. He alone has the knowledge, power, all-embracing sympathy, patience, and perfection to make the plan blessed for us and for all.

III. Jesus Christ progressively unfolds to his disciples his life plan for them. He did so to Paul. But it was revealed through Ananias, a general outline--the details after. Christs plan is adapted to our capacity--as strength grows we grasp it more clearly.

IV. The will of Christ maybe certainly known by us. Paul in this case did. In most of his subsequent experiences he knew the mind of Christ in truth and conduct. May we know the will of Christ certainly in these days? Yes! We have the words of Christ. We have the Spirit of truth. We know certain facts in nature and laws in science. We may also have spiritual certainty.

V. Times when we should specially breathe this prayer.

1. When burdened by sin.

2. When seeking the blessedness of a higher life.

3. When our way is uncertain. Such prayer will be answered. Gods will be made plain by obedience. (J. Matthews.)

The question of an awakened sinner

I. This language is expressive of deep concern. We sometimes wonder that men are not more concerned about what they must do to be saved. By nature they are blind and dark (Isa_59:10). Saul felt his danger, etc. Concern as to the manner of salvation. What wilt Thou have me to do? How shall I escape the damnation of hell? What means must I employ? A man lost in the Australian bush is not only concerned about the fact of being lost, but as to the way out of the trackless wilderness.

II. It is the language of astonishment and terror. He trembling and astonished said, etc. We have seen men tremble under conviction.

III. This is the language of decision. Saul meant to do whatever God should tell him. Many persons profess to be seeking the Lord for years. Why is He not found of them? because it is painfully manifest that they are not decided.

IV. The gospel alone supplies a satisfactory answer to this question. Conclusion:

1. Have we asked this question?

2. This is a matter of paramount importance. (G. T. Hall.)

Mans part in conversion

I. In men like Paul no sooner is there a vision of truth than there is a new resolution for duty. Saul had seen a new sight. One look at that majestic and tender countenance changed his anger to repentance. But he did not spend much time in gazing at the radiant spectacle. It purposely vanished from him. He did not call his fellow travellers to admire it as a wonder; he looked instantly for some new work. Such tremendous exercises and convictions are not meant to end in mere emotion. So the convicted jailer, Sirs, what shall I do to be saved? So the young man, What good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life? And so the people, the publicans, the soldiers to John the Baptist, What shall we do then? It is the sincere cry of every earnest nature with a new and Christian view of life.

2. There is a supernatural element and there is a natural one in St. Pauls conversion; the one for our faith, the other for our imitation. After the first glow of religious interest there comes a period of suspended energy; sometimes of reaction; sometimes of miserable complacency--a looking back to see how far we have come; or sideways, to see who is coming with us. Suffer me to go first and bury my father: What shall this man do? The strained sinews are relaxed. Here is the test of a true renewing. Can you survive that point of peril? If not, it is not a genuine work of the Holy Spirit. Your will was not converted, only your feelings; and as they are the transient, variable part of us, they are easily converted back again to falsehood and selfishness. Hence, the very question that belongs just there is this, What wilt Thou have me to do? How shall the better feeling pass into a better character? In the history, notice--

I. A personal concern. What wilt Thou have me to do?--not this man; not people in general; not older or better people, but myself. To Saul it was no time for anything but personal feeling and acting. Conscience told him what the vision meant, and the voice confirmed the findings of conscience. No wonder that he cried out trembling and astonished, as if there were no moment to be lost, and as if there were no other soul in the universe but himself before the Judge. To those, then, who have begun to inquire what they shall do, the first counsel is, Keep it before you as a personal concern. Do not try to throw your uneasiness off by saying you are no worse than your neighbours. Make no cowardly attempt to shift your responsibility upon others--whether society, your education, employers, tempters, or unfaithful religionists. Remember how many souls have missed their salvation by halting between a general interest and a particular consecration.

II. Doing the first simple duty; and for Christs sake, because He has required it. Human judgments would, very likely, have expected something comporting better with the dignity of the occasion. After such a supernal manifestation, surely life will not have to settle down into its tame uniformity again? Curiosity would expect some remarkable mission at once. Pride would suggest a sudden elevation into grand undertakings. But no; the first step must be plain and practical. The vision over, St. Paul must march on as before--outwardly as before--only with a changed errand and another heart. Above all, there must be no pause of indolence. Arise, and go into the city, etc. After any spiritual excitement, or start forward, there is apt to come a contempt for familiar tasks. But see how the Scriptures rebuke this dangerous vanity; and how profoundly they interpret human nature. After that rapturous night when Jacob saw the splendour of heaven, and the angels of God, the next morning he arose, put together stones for a memorial, and went straight on his journey. Naaman expected some magnificent demonstration of miracle. But no; it was simply, Go, bathe seven times in Jordan. Too simple, too common, he said. Yet that was the way to health. At their first call, the fishermen that were to convert the world were not sent out with banners and trumpets. Drop your fishing nets and come after Me, in a quiet, obscure, daily doing of My hard work, and in due time you shall be kings and priests unto God! The healed leper was only to go home and tell what great things God had done for him. The young man was looking for some unprecedented sacrifice; but to go and increase his charity to those poor people he had seen so often was more than he could bear. No, the true self-sacrifice is not on high or in strange places. Back to the old scenes, the dull shop, the unsocial, unexciting days work, the tedious routine of the office; but if you take with you the new Spirit, which has beamed upon you in your blessed hour, then all the dull task work will be transfigured in that light. Go straight to the nearest, plainest duty, and it shall be told thee there, in the opening path of Providence, what thou shalt dc next.

III. Silent seclusion and meditation. Observe how effectually the apostle was shut up to himself. First, a blindness, then three days of absolute privacy, fasting, thinking, afterwards three years in Arabia. He needed this cooling air of stillness and loneliness. His passions had been fiery, terribly tempestuous. Not long before he had taken a ferocious delight in Stephens martyrdom; and now, sitting at the feet of that Jesus, he had that scene to remember. Food enough for meditation! Like the outward form of the Master, that old life must die, and lie three days hid in a sepulchre, before the new created man could be risen with Christ. There is a lesson for us of this bustling age in that strong, penitent man, fasting, repenting, shut in his dark room, thinking, praying. When the deepest springs of life are moved by any grand experience we cannot speak: we ought to be still. Even nature, whenever she discloses to us her grander scenery, shuts our lips. After that call from heaven the apostle longed for silence, and it came. Such seclusion is sometimes our salvation. Every real renewal is a winepress that must be trodden alone.

IV. Submission to a visible religious authority. Ananias, a representative of the Church, was sent to encourage him, and to introduce him to the Church. If Pauls strong nature needed guidance and help, our weak ones need it no less. What Ananias and the miracle and the heavenly voice were to him, one Book and the ministry and the ordinances are to us. This sounds very commonplace, I know. Visions are more exciting, ecstasies more transporting, sentimentalists will say it is uninteresting; pseudo-spiritualists will say it is formal; novelty seekers will say it is old fashioned. But remember, the supposition now is that you are in earnest about making yourself a Christian man, and are willing to take the practical, sensible means. One of these, a chief one, is a study of the Bible--the textbook of the Christian knowledge. Whenever it is displaced, Christian character loses richness and depth. One reason why our modem religion is superficial, weak, irreverent, is that the intimacy with that nourishing inspiration declines. Nor can you separate the Bible from the Church. Our busy society has so little in its influence that is really spiritual--it offers so few helps to a weak soul struggling to maintain a Christian conversation--that we do all need to replenish our inner light and love and strength from supernatural and sacramental fountains.

V. The appeal to Christ by prayer. St. Paul spoke first, not to himself, not to Ananias, not to any friend on earth; it was, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? There is no such thing as growth in a holy life without communion between the heart and Him. For every perplexity and despondency, a fresh supplication: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? and He will show us. He has promised that He will. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find. (Bp. Huntington.)

An eager inquiry

The words are--

I. An earnest appeal for Divine mercy. Saul was conscious of his great wickedness in persecuting Christ, and doubtless thought that he would have to do much to secure forgiveness. The reply, Arise, etc., must have given him hope. The period of three days was one of great anguish, but relief came through Ananias, and Saul received his sight and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Nothing is said about forgiveness, but this is surely included in the gift of the Spirit, for the one is of no use without the other. So Peter said to the penitents at Pentecost, Repent and be baptized … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Does anyone here inquire, What shall I do? The answer is nigh thee even in thy heart, etc.

II. A hearty desire for consecration to Gods service. The question means not only, What must I do to be saved? but, What must I do to serve Thee? God wills--

1. That we should hold communion with Him. This Saul did during the three days at Damascus. Behold he prayeth. He had prayed before, but only as a Pharisee--outwardly; now he came into actual contact with God, and poured out his soul before Him.

2. That we should exemplify the power of the gospel in our daily life. As ye have received Christ as Lord, so walk in Him in your personal capacity, in your domestic relations, in your secular employments, in your religious and Church duties.

3. That we should help to diminish human misery. Our Master went about doing good, not only to the souls, but to the bodies of men. His religion is not only one of faith and hope, but of charity. Pure religion and undefiled, etc. Whoso hath this worlds good, etc.

4. That we should seek to bring men to Christ. It was revealed to Paul that he should be a preacher, and right well did he fulfil his task. Although all Christians are not called upon to be preachers, yet all are expected to do something to save souls. In the family, Sunday school, workshop, by the sick bed, etc. We may all work for the Master.

In conclusion:

1. This life is the only opportunity we have for working in reference to the world to come.

2. Our position in heaven will be determined by our activity on earth.

3. Our work and therefore our reward will be proportioned by the degree to which we yield to the constraint of Christs love. (J. Morris, D. D.)

The Christians life

Standing on a platform when the train, shooting out of some dark tunnel, dashes by with the rush of an eagle, and the roar of thunder; or, seated upon some lofty rock, when the mountain wave, driven on by the hurricane, and swelling, foaming, curling, bursts, and, passing on either side, rushes to roll along the beach--than these I know no situation, under heaven, where a man more feels his weakness. What hand could stop these flying wheels; or, seizing the billow by its snowy main, hold it back? Only one--Gods own right hand. Great miracle that! A greater is here, in the sudden omnipotent arrest of Saul. With what impetus he moves on his career, and, breathing flames and slaughter, he rushes on his prey; but in a moment he is arrested in mid career, changed into little child. The hand that bent the arch of heaven has bent his iron will; and, now yielding himself up to Christ, he lies at His feet. Let us now consider what is implied in this question of his.

I. That every true convert submits himself to the will of Christ. It is not, What will my minister, parents, friends, etc.; but what wilt Thou have me to do?

1. This submission to anothers will is the most difficult of things. It is easier to bend iron than a stubborn will. Does not every parent find it so? Happy are the children that have learned to say to a wise, good, Christian father, what Jesus said to His, Not My will, but Thine be done. This submission to the will of another, the first, best lesson, the battle of the nursery, trains us for the battle of the world, and also the Church. And thus are we to yield our wills to Christ, not saying what would I wish, or what will this or that one say? but Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth. In the church, in the place of business, in the family, in the world, What wilt Thou have me to do? There is a passage in the history of St. Francis that may throw light on this subject. The rule of the order which he founded was implicit submission to the superior. One day a monk proved refractory. He must be subdued. By order of St. Francis, a grave was dug, and the monk was put into it. The brothers began to shovel in the earth. When the mould had reached the wretchs knees, St. Francis bent down, and, fixing his eye on him, said, Are you dead yet--do you yield? There was no answer; down in that grave there seemed to stand a man with a will as iron as his own. The burial went on. When at length he was buried up to the neck, to the lips, St. Francis bent down once more, Are you dead yet? The monk lifted his eye to his superior to see in his cold, grey eyes no spark of feeling. Dead to all the weaknesses of humanity, St. Francis stood ready to give the signal that should finish the burial. It was not needed; the iron bent; the funeral was slopped; his will yielding to a stronger, the poor brother said, I am dead. Popery is not so much a contradiction as a caricature of the truth. I would not be dead as these monks to any man. The reason which I have got from God Almighty is to bend blindly before no human authority. But the submission I refuse to man, Jesus, I give to Thee--not wrung from me by terror, but won by love. I wish to be dead, not as that monk, but as he who said, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live. Saul, the persecutor, was dead; but Paul, the great apostle, lived. Yet not I, he adds, but Christ liveth in me, etc.

2. Were it so with us, what happy, good, brave, devoted Christians we should be! I have seen a servant come in the morning to his master for orders, and leave to spend the day in executing them; and would that every one of us would go morning by morning to Christ, saying, with Saul, Lord what wilt Thou have me to do this day? There would be no difficulty in getting money for Christs cause, or people to do His work. I have read how a troop of cavalry, dashing at the roaring cannon, would rush on to death; and how the forlorn hope would throw themselves, with a bound and a cheer, into the fiery breach, knowing that they should leave their bodies there--it was the will of their commander. And shall Christians do less for Christ? Are you your own? We have one Master in heaven; and if it be true that He bought us with His blood, what right has a Christian to himself?

II. That every true convert feels his individual responsibility. It is not only, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? but What wilt Thou have me to do?

1. In looking over some vast assembly one reflection naturally suggests itself--What power is here! You may smile at him who, standing by the cataract of Niagara, instead of being filled with admiration, began to calculate how much machinery that water power would turn. But it is a serious, stirring thought to think how much moral machinery all this power now before me could turn for good, were every scheming brain and busy hand, and willing heart, engaged in the service of God. What honour would accrue to God! what a revenue of glory to Jesus Christ, and what invaluable service to religion! It is impossible to estimate the power that lies latent in our Churches. We talk of the power latent in steam till Watts evoked its spirit from the waters, and set the giant to turn the iron arms of machinery. We talk of the power latent in the skies till science, seizing the spirit of the thunder, chained it to our service--abolishing distance, and flashing our thoughts across rolling seas to distant Continents. Yet what are these to the moral power that lies asleep in our congregations?

2. And why latent? Because men and women neither appreciate their individual influence, nor estimate their individual responsibilities. They cannot do everything; therefore they do nothing. They cannot blaze like a star; and, therefore, they wont shine like a glow worm; and so they are content that the few work, and that the many look on. Not thus are the woods clothed in green, but by every little leaf expanding its own form. Nor thus are fields covered with golden corn, but by every stalk of grain ripening its own head. You say, What can I do? oh, I have no power, nor influence, nor name, nor talents, nor money! Look at the coral reef yonder, which stretches its unbroken wall for a thousand leagues along the sea. How contemptible the architects; yet the aggregate of their labours, mocking our greatest breakwaters, how colossal! I know that all cannot be bright and burning lights; but see how that candle in a cottage window sends out its rays streaming far through the depths of night. Why should not we shine, though it should be to illumine only the narrow walls of our countrys humblest home?

3. Consider how the greatest things done on earth have ever been done by little and little--little agents, and little things. How was the wall restored around Jerusalem? By each man, whether his house was an old palace or the rudest cabin, building the breach before his own door. How was the soil of the New World redeemed from gloomy forests? By each sturdy emigrant cultivating the patch round his own log cabin? How have the greatest battles been won? By the rank and file--every man holding his own post, and ready to die on the battlefield. And if the world is ever to be conquered for our Lord, it is not by ministers, nor by office bearers, nor by the great, and noble, and mighty; but by every member of Christs body being a working member, and saying to Jesus, Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?

III. That the life of the true convert will be one of deeds. What wilt Thou have me not to believe or to profess, but to do.

1. I do not set deeds against doctrines, nor have I any sympathy with the fashion of setting small value on creeds; saying, It matters little what a man believes, if he does right. A man cannot do right unless he believes right, since every effect must have a cause. I know that doctrines are not deeds; that the foundation is not the superstructure. Yet that night when the rains descend, and the floods rise, and the winds blow, happy is the man whose storm-beaten house stands founded on a rock, and happier still the man, when the hour comes which shall sweep away all confidence in human merits, whose hopes of salvation stand on the Rock of Ages. Call creeds, as some do, but the bones, and not the living, lovely, breathing form of true religion; still, what were the body without the bones? Not less important the place that doctrines hold; and therefore I say, hold fast the profession of your faith.

2. Still, faith without works is dead. Useless the creeds that do not influence our conduct; the preaching that leads to no practice. Prayer meetings, sermons, are good; but they are not, as some make them, banquets where you are to enjoy yourselves. Would you see their proper use? Look at yon hardy and sun-burned man, sitting down in his cottage to a simple meal; and rising from the table to spend the strength it gives him at the labours of the field. So Sabbaths and religious services are to strengthen us for work--otherwise our religion is no less selfish than the lives of epicures. Our object should be to get strength to do Gods work in this world, and to follow Him who, as our pattern as well as propitiation, went about continually doing good. Christ is the propitiation of none of whom he is not also the pattern; and on the last day you will never be asked what was your denomination or creed. No! It is fruit, not leaves nor even flowers, that is the test of the tree. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and east into the fire. Alive to this, what good we should do! how busy we should be! There would be no time for sin; little even for rest. Rest? What have we to do with that? From His cradle to the grave, did Christ ever rest? My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Earth for work, heaven for wages. There remaineth a rest for the people of God. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The two-fold subjection of humanity to God--Pharaoh and Paul

(text, and Rom_14:11; Exo_10:17):--The passage from Romans, taken from Isa_45:23, predicts the universal subjugation of mankind to the Divine will. This does not mean universal salvation, for the subjugation is two fold, the one represented by Pharaoh, the other by Paul.

I. The one is by a conviction of Gods terrible power, the other by a conviction of His love. Pharaoh felt that further rebellion would be ruin, and for a moment bowed the knee. Paul felt that further rebellion would be a crime against that tenderness that could plead, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. So it is ever. Wicked men and devils are made to bow by a sense of Gods power. Good men and angels bow from a sense of His love.

II. The one involves anguish, the other happiness. In what a state of agony was Pharaoh when he said, Intreat the Lord for me. But what joy came to Paul as the voice of Mercy said, Rise, stand upon thy feet, etc. The one therefore involves heaven, the other hell.

1. In the one there is a sense of absolute slavery, in the other of perfect freedom.

2. In the one there is a sense of despair, in the other of hopefulness.

3. In the one there is a sense of Divine antagonism, in the other of Divine favour.

III. The one becomes a ministry of destruction, the other of salvation. Pharaoh, the moment the panic abated, rushes on and brings destruction to himself and his hosts; Paul begins a ministry which issues in the salvation of myriads. Conclusion: It is not for us to determine whether we shall bow the knee or not--we must--but how: by a sense of Gods power or of His love, by coercion or choice? (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Our mission

I. Every man has his mission.

1. Life is awfully significant.

2. Duty renders it sublime.

II. Our mission may be ascertained--

1. By observing our position and circumstances.

2. By listening to the voice of God.

III. Our mission may be accomplished.

1. Impossibilities are not required.

2. God is pledged to give the needful strength. (W. W. Wythe.)

The Christian for the times

The great apostle was a man for the times in which he lived. The Christian for the times must be--

I. Spiritual. He must be converted on the conditions of repentance and faith.

II. He must be intelligent. Must know the Scriptures.

III. He must be tolerant in spirit. The age of intolerance is past.

IV. He must be progressive in his methods.

V. He must be aggressive in spirit. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. To go is to be aggressive.

VI. He must be liberal with his possessions. VII. He must possess stability of character. (J. Robinette.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 9:6. And, trembling and astonished — To find that he whom he had so often affronted and despised, yea, blasphemously and virulently opposed, even Jesus of Nazareth, was such a glorious and powerful person; and yet, that instead of destroying him immediately, as he might have easily done, he had condescended thus compassionately to expostulate with him, he was overwhelmed with confusion and dismay; and in the deepest self-abasement and contrition, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do — What is thy will concerning me? Can mercy be extended to me? If so, I am prepared for any submission, self-denial, labour, or hardship which may be required of me. These were the first words that grace spoke in and by Saul; and with these began his spiritual life. In these he manifested a serious desire to be instructed by Christ in his duty, and a sincere resignation of himself to Christ’s conduct and government. And the Lord said, Arise, and go into the city, &c. — To which thou art now near; and it shall be told thee what thou must do — Thou shall be instructed in all things which I have appointed concerning thee. It was encouragement enough to Saul, to have further instruction promised him. But, 1st, He must not have it yet: it shall be told him by and by what he must do: but for the present he must pause upon what has been already said to him; and must improve that: let him consider a while what he has done in persecuting Christ and his people, and be deeply humbled for that, and then he shall be told what he has further to do. 2d, He must not have further instructions in this way, by a voice from heaven, for it is what he cannot bear. He trembles and is astonished; he shall be told, therefore, what he must do, by a man like himself, whose terror shall not make him afraid. Observe, Christ declares his mind to his people by degrees; and both what he doth, and what he would have them do, though they know not now, they shall know hereafter.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark - Acts

GRACE TRIUMPHANT

LOVE’S QUESTION

Mar 10:51. - Act 9:6.

Christ asks the first question of a petitioner, and the answer is a prayer for sight. Saul asks the second question of Jesus, and the answer is a command. Different as they are, we may bring them together. The one is the voice of love, desiring to be besought in order that it may bestow; the other is the voice of love, desiring to be commanded in order that it may obey.

Love delights in knowing, expressing, and fulfilling the beloved’s wishes.

I. The communion of Love delights on both sides in knowing the beloved’s wishes.

Christ delights in knowing ours. He encourages us to speak though He knows, because it is pleasant to Him to hear, and good for us to tell. His children delight in knowing His will.

II. It delights in expressing wishes-His commandments are the utterance of His Love:

His Providences are His loving ways of telling us what He desires of us, and if we love Him as we ought, both commandments and providences will be received by us as lovers do gifts that have ‘with my love’ written on them.

On the other hand, our love will delight in telling Him what we wish, and to speak all our hearts to Jesus will be our instinct in the measure of our love to Him.

III. It delights in fulfilling wishes-puts key of treasure-house into our hands.

He refused John and James. Be sure that He does still delight to give us our desires, and so be sure that when any of these are not granted there must be some loving reason for refusal.

Our delight should be in obedience, and only when our wills are submitted to His does He say to us, ‘What wilt thou?’ ‘If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 9:6. Ἀλλὰ) Instead of this particle, the longer portion (periocha) has been introduced, σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν· τρέμων τε καὶ θαμβῶν εἶπε, Κύριε, τί με θέλεις ποιῆσαι; καὶ ὁ Κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν: That this is a gloss, composed from the parallel, ch. Act 26:14, and from a paraphrase, is betrayed by the manifold discrepancy among the few authorities which support the passage. See App. Crit., Ed. ii., on this place [which altogether refutes this paraphrase that has originated from the parallelism. This is done more fully in the Defence of the New Testament, published separately, A.D. 1739 and 1745. (App. Ed. ii., P. iv. n. ix.)—Not. Crit.]

[58]—εἰς τὴν πόλιν, into the city) Saul is desired to prosecute his journey and enter the city, but now in a different state of mind. Without this command, he would not have known what he ought to do. It was in those localities first, wherein he had been a persecutor, that Saul confessed the name of Jesus: ch. Act 26:20.—λαληθήσεται, it shall be told thee) Saul was obliged to wait and submit himself to the ministry, as was the case with Cornelius afterwards: ch. Act 10:5, “Send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon,” etc. To the ministry Jesus sent away the one, the angel the other, in words which were for that reason few. They are not exempt from danger who, without communion with competent men, seek a path to heaven. The συγκατάβασις, condescension, is marvellous, that the Lord deals with us through men like ourselves.—τί σε δεῖ ποιεῖν, what thou must do) Saul had asked concerning this: Ananias told him this, Act 9:17. The apostle learned the rest from the Lord Himself.

[58] Vulg. Amiat. supports the addition of these words as in Rec. Text: but not so Amiat. corrected. Also Syr. with an asterisk has them. None other of the oldest authorities has them, except that Hilary has this part of them, “Tremens et pavens dixit, Domine, quid me vis facere?” ABCEe (Ee Syr. add σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν after ver. 4) Memph. and Theb. omit the words. Also Lachm. seems to state that Amiat. Vulg. omits them; but Tisch. otherwise.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_9:6. ʼΑλλά] breaking off; see on Mar_16:7, and Bäumlein, Partik. p. 15.

According to chap. 26., Jesus forthwith gives Saul the commission to become the apostle of the Gentiles, which, according to the two other narratives, here and chap. 22., is only given afterwards through the intervention of Ananias. This diversity is sufficiently explained by the fact that Paul in the speech before Agrippa abridges the narrative, and puts the commission, which was only subsequently conveyed to him by the instrumentality of another, at once into the mouth of Christ Himself, the author of the commission; by which the thing in itself (the command issued by Christ to him) is not affected, but merely the exactness of the representation, the summary abbreviation of which on this point Paul might esteem as sufficient before Agrippa (in opposition to Zeller, p. 193).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 9:6 . For this verse see critical notes and also Act 22:10 . Ἀνάστηθι : verb characteristic of St. Luke, see on Act 5:7 . Here, if we compare Act 26:16 (Act 14:10 ), it is evidently used in a literal sense. καὶ λαληθήσεταί σοι , see note on Act 26:15 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said--(The most ancient manuscripts and versions of the New Testament lack all these words here [including the last clause of Act 9:5]; but they occur in Act 26:14 and Act 22:10, from which they appear to have been inserted here). The question, "What shall I do, Lord?" or, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" indicates a state of mind singularly interesting (see on Act 2:37). Its elements seem to be these: (1) Resistless conviction that "Jesus whom he persecuted," now speaking to him, was "Christ the Lord." (See on Gal 1:15-16). (2) As a consequence of this, that not only all his religious views, but his whole religious character, had been an entire mistake; that he was up to that moment fundamentally and wholly wrong. (3) That though his whole future was now a blank, he had absolute confidence in Him who had so tenderly arrested him in his blind career, and was ready both to take in all His teaching and to carry out all His directions. (For more, see on Act 9:9).

Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee, &c.--See on Act 8:26-28.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Trembling] Under a strong apprehension of meeting the judgment he deserved.

And astonished] At the light, the thunder, and the voice.

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?] The word κυριε, Lord, is here to be understood in its proper sense, as expressing authority and dominion: in the 5th verse it appears to be equivalent to our word sir.

The pride of the Pharisee is now brought down to the dust; and the fury of the persecutor is not only restrained, but the lion becomes a lamb. What wilt thou have me to do? Wilt thou condescend to employ me among thy meanest servants?

Go into the city, and it shall be told thee, c.] Jesus could have informed him at once what was his will concerning him but he chose to make one of those very disciples whom he was going to bring in bonds to Jerusalem the means of his salvation:

1. To show that God will help man by man, that they may learn to love and respect each other.

2. That in the benevolence of Ananias he might see the spirit and tendency of that religion which he was persecuting, and of which he was shortly to become an apostle.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. The fruit of that reprehension followeth, wherewith we have said it was requisite that Paul should have been sore shaken, that his hardness might be broken. For now he offereth himself as ready to do whatsoever he should command him, whom of late he despised. For when he asketh what Christ would have him do, he granteth him authority and power. Even the very reprobate are also terrified with the threatening of God, so that they are compelled to reverence him, and to submit themselves unto his will and pleasure; yet, nevertheless, they cease not to fret and to foster stubbornness within. But as God humbled Paul, so he wrought effectually in his heart. For it came not to pass by any goodness of nature, that Paul did more willingly submit himself to God than Pharaoh, (Exodus 7:13;) but because, being like to an anvil, [Pharaoh] did, with his hardness, beat back the whips of God wherewith he was to be brought under, (even as it had been the strokes of a hammer;) but the heart of Paul was suddenly made a fleshy heart of a stony heart, after that it received softness from the Spirit of God; which softness it had not naturally. The same thing do we also try [experience] daily in ourselves. He reproveth us by his word; he threateneth and terrifieth us; he addeth also light correction, and prepareth us divers ways unto subjection. But all these helps shall never cause any man to bring forth good fruit, unless the Spirit of God do mollify his heart within.

And the Lord said unto him. After that Paul had put his stiff neck under the yoke of Christ, he is now governed by his hand. For doubtless the Lord doth not so bring us into the way, that he leaveth us either before we begin our course, or in the midst thereof; but he bringeth us unto the very mark by little and little. Luke depainteth out unto us in this place this continual course of God’s governance. For He taketh him afterward unto himself to be taught whom He hath made apt to be taught. Neither doth that any whit hinder that he useth man’s ministry ill this point. Because the authority and power remaineth nevertheless in him, howsoever he accomplish his work by man; though it may seem an absurd thing that Christ, who is the Eternal Wisdom of God, doth send a scholar (who was ready to hear, and did gape after instruction) unto another man, that he might learn. But I answer, that that was done not without cause. For the Lord meant by this means to prove Paul’s modesty, when he sendeth him to one of his scholars to be taught; as if he himself would not vouchsafe as yet to speak unto him familiarly, but sendeth him to his servants whom he did of late both so proudly contemn and so cruelly persecute.

And we are also taught humility under his person. For if Christ made Paul subject to the teaching of a common disciple, which of us can grudge to hear any teacher, so that he be appointed by Christ, that is, he declare himself to be his minister in deed? Therefore, whereas Paul is sent to Ananias, let us know that that is done to adorn the ministry of the Church. This is assuredly no small honor whereunto it pleaseth God to exalt mankind, when as he chooseth our brethren from amongst us to be interpreters of his will; when as he causeth his holy oracles to sound in the mouth of man, which is naturally given to lying and vanity. But the unthankfulness of the world betrayeth itself again herein, that no man can abide to hear when God speaketh by the mouth of man. All men could desire to have angels come flying unto them, or that heaven should be now and then cut asunder, and that the visible glory of God should come thence. Forasmuch as this preposterous curiosity springeth from pride and wicked contempt of the Word, it setteth open a gate to many dotings, and breaketh the bond of mutual consent among the faithful. Therefore the Lord doth testify, that it pleaseth him that we should be taught by men, and confirmeth the order set down by himself. And to this purpose serve these titles, “He which heareth you heareth me,” (Luke 10:16;) that he may cause his word to be reverenced as it ought.

It shall be told thee. Christ putteth Ananias in his place by these words, as touching the office of teaching; not because he resigneth his authority to him, but because he shall be a faithful minister, and a sincere preacher of the gospel. Therefore we must always use this moderation, that we hear God alone in Christ, and Christ himself alone, yet as he speaketh by his ministers. And these two vices must be avoided, that the ministers be not proud, under color of such a precious function, or that their base condition impair no whit of the dignity of heavenly wisdom.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) And he trembling and astonished . . .—The words stand, as far as textual authority is concerned, on the same footing as the foregoing, but, for the same reason, will be dealt with here. We note (1) the use of the word “Lord,” now, we must believe, with a new meaning, as applied to the Nazarene whom he had before despised. (2) The entire surrender of his own will to that of Him whom he thus recognised as commanding his allegiance. At that moment Christ was formed in him (Gal_1:16); the new man came to life. He lived in Christ, and Christ in him. “Not I, but Christ that liveth in me” (Gal_2:20) was henceforward the axiom of his life.

Arise, and go into the city.—In the narrative of Act_26:16 there appears a fuller manifestation of the divine purpose as made at this time; but there St. Paul, in his rapid survey, is obviously combining, in one brief summary, the whole sum and substance of the teaching that was associated with that great turning-point of his life. We may trace in the command actually given a stage in the divine discipline appointed for his spirit. Silence and submission, and acquiescence in ignorance of the future, and patient expectation, and prayer for light—these were needed before he could be ready for the great work which was to be committed to his charge.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Arise] The MSS. which omit the above words insert a conjunction here. Read, But arise. Saul had continued prostrate as he had fallen down at the first.

and go into the city] A proof that the party of travellers had arrived very nearly at Damascus. Tradition here, as in many other instances, has fixed on a spot as the scene of this Divine vision. It is placed outside the eastern gate, and about a mile from the city. Such a situation answers very well, but its fitness is the only ground for attaching any weight to the tradition.

and it shall be told thee what thou must do] In Act_26:16-18 we have an abstract given by the Apostle of the labours for which Christ designed him, and the words in that passage are placed as a portion of the Divine communication made before Saul entered Damascus, but as in that narrative no mention is made of Ananias or his visit, we may conclude that we have instead a brief notice of the message which Ananias brought to him, and that therein is contained a declaration of what Jesus in the vision only spoke of as “what thou must do.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he trembling and astonished,.... At the light and voice, and appearance of Christ, and especially at the words last spoken; he was now pricked to the heart, and filled with a sense of sin, and loaded with guilt, and had dreadful apprehensions of his state and condition, on account of his past wickedness, and the present course of sin he was in: so persons under first convictions "tremble" at the sight of their sins, which rise up like so many ghosts, and stare them in the face, and load their consciences with guilt; at the swarms of corruptions they see in their carts, which appear to them an habitation of devils, a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird; at the curses of a righteous law which threatens with damnation and death; at the future judgment, and the apprehensions of divine wrath; and at the voice and word of God, which strikes terror, cuts them to the heart, and like an hammer breaks the rock in pieces: and they are "astonished" at their own wickedness and vileness, which they had no conception of before; at the sparing mercy and forbearance of God, who has continued them in being, and not sent them to hell, to be among devils and damned spirits; at the light around by which they see their sins, the plague of their own hearts, the insufficiency of their own righteousness, their lost state by nature, and need of salvation by Christ; and at the doctrines of the Gospel, so far as they have light into them; and at the person of Christ, and at his Father's love and his in procuring salvation for them:

said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? he was willing to do any thing he should him to, whereby he might make satisfaction for the injury he had done him, and by which he might be saved; for he was still upon the covenant of works, as persons under first convictions commonly are:

and the Lord said unto him; this, with all that goes before in this verse, is wanting in the Alexandrian copy, and Syriac version: "arise and go into the city"; that is, of Damascus, as the Ethiopic version reads:

and it shall be told thee what thou must do; what was appointed for him to do, Act 22:10 and there it was told him both what he should do and suffer for Christ, but not to obtain salvation; and this was done internally by the Spirit of God, who instructed him in the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel, and externally by Ananias: in two of Beza's copies, and in the Syriac version, it is read, "there shall it be told thee", &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Ver. 6. It shall be told thee] Christ teacheth him not immediately, but sendeth him to a preacher; so to grace his own ordinance.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he, trembling - Alarmed at what he saw and heard, and at the consciousness of his own evil course. It is not remarkable that a sinner trembles when he sees his guilt and danger.

And astonished - At what he saw.

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? - This indicates a subdued soul, a humbled spirit. Just before, he had sought only to do his own will; now he inquired what was the will of the Saviour. Just before he was acting under a commission from the Sanhedrin; now he renounced their authority, and asked what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Just before he had been engaged in a career of opposition to the Lord Jesus; now he sought at once to do his will. This indicates the usual change in the mind of the sinner when he is converted. The great controversy between him and God is, whose will shall be followed. The sinner follows his own; the first act of the Christian is to surrender his own will to that of God, and to resolve to do what he requires. We may further remark here that this indicates the true nature of conversion. It is decided, prompt immediate. Paul did not debate the matter Gal 1:16; he did not inquire what the scribes and Pharisees would say; he did not consult his own reputation; he did not ask what the world would think. With characteristic promptness - with a readiness which showed what he would yet be, he gave himself up at once, and entirely, to the Lord Jesus, evidently with a purpose to do his will alone. This was the case also with the jailor at Philippi, Act 16:30. Nor can there be any real conversion where the heart and will are not given to the Lord Jesus, to be directed and moulded by him at his pleasure. We may test our conversion then by the example of the apostle Paul. If our hearts have been given up as his was, we are true friends of Christ.

Go into the city - Damascus. They were near it, Act 9:3.

And it shall be told thee - It is remarkable that he was thus directed. But we may learn from it:

(1) That even in the most striking and remarkable cases of conversion, there is not at once a clear view of duty. What course of life should be followed; what should be done; nay, what should be believed, is not at once apparent.

(2) The aid of others, and especially ministers, and of experienced Christians, is often very desirable to aid even those who are converted in the most remarkable manner. Saul was converted by a miracle; the Saviour appeared to him in his glory; of the truth of his Messiahship he had no doubt, but still he was dependent on an humble disciple in Damascus to be instructed in what he should do.

(3) Those who are converted, in however striking a manner it may be, should be willing to seek the counsel of those who are in the church before them. The most striking evidence of their conversion will not prevent their deriving important direction and benefit from the aged, the experienced, and the wise in the Christian church.

(4) Such remarkable conversions are suited to induce the subjects of the change to seek counsel and direction. They produce humility; a deep sense of sin and of unworthiness; and a willingness to be taught and directed by anyone who can point out the way of duty and of life.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Saul, being thoroughly humbled, and brought to resign himself wholly to God, makes this question, giving up himself as a white paper, for Christ to write what he would upon: he had thought he had done God good service, (as it is said many persecutors should think so too, Joh 16:2), but he is now powerfully brought off from his obstinacy in that persuasion.

Go into the city; Damascus, which was near at hand. Whether Christ revealed his gospel now unto him, or in the three days in which he remained blind in Damascus, Act 9:9, is not so certain; but it is certain that he was Ξριστο διδακτος, taught immediately by Christ himself, as he testifies. Gal 1:12, and in that, without any further instruction, he was baptized, Act 9:17,18; yet many things might be left for Ananias to confirm him in; and God, by this sending of him to Ananias, would honour his own ordinance, and recommend the ministry and use of means, which are the power of God unto salvation, Rom 1:16; and thus, though God could have instructed Cornelius by the angel which appeared unto him, Act 10:3, yet he is commanded to send for Peter, and to hear from him what he ought to do, Act 9:5,6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Trembling and astonished—Yet prostrate upon the earth.

What… do?—The energetic character of Paul speaks out even in his prostrate condition. “He does not,” says Stier, “wail out, ‘Ah! Lord, what have I done?” It may be a deep repentance that ruminates in sorrow over the past; but it is a more effective repentance that seeks, as far as possible, to undo the past by the most earnest use of the future.

Arise… go… city—Saul’s narrative to Agrippa declares that at this point God gave him his commission to the Gentiles (Act_26:16-18) in rich and rounded terms. In his narrative to the hostile Jerusalemites he declares that Ananias confirmed the commission as by divine authority. The direction to be received from Ananias as to what he must do would include not the great commission of his life, but the immediate things to be done, as baptism, etc.

The sort of interior which Damascus had, its base streets yet luxurious indoor residences, Mr. Tristam well describes:

“In the city we were taken to visit one of the wealthiest houses. After picking our way over heaps of offal, stepping over dead dogs, and kicking aside living ones, through a loathsome dark lane, we turned up a narrow entry and were admitted at a small door. This led into a crypt-like vaulted ante-chamber, through which we passed, and, turning round, found ourselves on a sudden in a marble open court, in the centre of which was a fountain, surrounded by exotic trees. (See our vol. i, pp. 121, 326.) All round the court were rooms, and in the centre of each side an open chamber, or large alcove, up two or three steps, with a little marble fountain playing in front, and silk ottomans, worktables, and easy chairs behind. The roofing of these alcoves and the walls were marvellous in their elaborate workmanship and colouring, the whole one mass of carved and gilded arabesque. The flooring was marble: the walls up to the wainscot marble in elaborate mosaic patterns. Each room had a fountain in its centre, and was furnished with silk ottomans all round, lavishly strewn with brocade and silken cushions. A gallery ran round above in front of the upstairs rooms, which were similarly arranged. Such was probably a Jewish house in the palmy days of the monarchy.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rise, and enter into the city for Arise, and go, etc., A.V.

The goads of God.

There is probably some truth in the familiar saying "If Stephen had not prayed, Paul had not preached." The influence of the sight of that martyrdom, and especially of that magnanimous prayer, may have had much to do with converting Saul the persecuting Pharisee into Paul the faithful apostle. For what could our Lord have meant by saying, "It is hard for thee to kick against the goads," but that, as it is a vain, useless, and hurtful thing for the yoked ox to struggle against that which is inciting it to its work, so was it a useless and hurtful thing for Saul to be rebelling against those scruples, heart-searchings, convictions, which were urging him to enter a new and better path? This may seem inconsistent with the language which has just been used (ver. 1); but we must remember that vehemence is never quite so violent as when it begins to suspect itself to be in the wrong; that persecution is never so passionate, fanaticism never so fierce, as when it is most impressed with the goodness and innocency of its victim. Your Levee never strikes so murderous a blow as when he finds himself face to face with a Christian hero and feels himself to be thoroughly condemned. So Saul never breathed out such threatening and slaughter as when the sight of Stephen"s blood-stained body was still before his eyes, and the sound of his generous intercession still lingered in his ear. But he was beginning to think that, after all, perhaps those Christians were in the right and that he was in the wrong, and that he must either shut his eyes hard against the light or change his course. By violent suppression of these new thoughts, by stifling all scruples with strong hand, by kicking against the goads of God, he found himself on the way to Damascus to worry and harry the servants of Christ. There the Lord whom he was to serve so faithfully met him and told him he was doing a hard thing in thus struggling against the Heaven-sent promptings which urged him to take the true and right path.

I THE PREVALENCE OF INWARD STRUGGLE. Few things more pathetic have come down to us from ancient times than that lament of the Roman poet, "I see the better things and approve; I follow the worse." How many have to make the same sorrowful confession now! Around us are souls struggling

(1) with passion,

(2) with earthly ambition,

(3) with pride,

(4) with disposition to wait for some favorable future.

These find themselves urged by the goads of God conscience, the sacred Scriptures, human ministry, the Divine Spirit to take the better course, but their lower instincts and evil habits cause them to strive against these higher impulses.

II ITS PROFOUND MISTAKE.

1. It is a miserable thing in a man"s own experience to be living a life of vice, or worldliness, or selfishness, or indecision, when the soul is conscious of a Divine voice calling it to higher things to pursue a path which is known and felt to be the wrong one. This is a wretched life to live; there is no peace, no spiritual rest, no lasting joy; there is distraction, discontent, rebellion. It is hard for a human soul to kick against the goads of God.

2. It is a regrettable thing, judged from outside. Those who look on cloud of witnesses see with unspeakable sorrow a human heart spending its powers and wasting its life in battling with its purer and nobler aspirations. There is no more saddening sight to a Christ-like spirit than that of a human heart thus striving with the influences which come from heaven to raise and to redeem it.

3. It is a guilty thing, life man can continue to do that without storing up for himself "wrath against the day of wrath.

III THE ONE WISE COURSE TO TAKE. There is only one thing for such a man to do he must yield himself at once to God"s gracious forces. He must be the "prisoner of the Lord," that he may become "the freedman of Christ." He must go on whither his Redeemer is urging him on to full self-surrender; on to sacred and harry service; and so on to the heavenly kingdom. C.

The act of capitulation.

The moment had come for Saul. His conversion is a fact accomplished. He speaks to it by speaking its reliable evidences. Short, undoubtedly sharp, and as it now appears decisive, had the conflict within been, but it is now over. And the fight over finds out the two results the soldier unwounded and the victory won. The moment had come also for Jesus. What preparations his had been! What work he had accomplished! What "sufferings" he had endured! What shame he had borne! And his mighty power and mightier love have now triumphed. He too has his victory, has taken, and without blood, his captive, and has bound that captive to him, a willing captive for ever and ever. That moment of double victory of Jesus over the human heart, and of a man"s better over his worse self by the grace of the Spirit two victories, yet but one, is described by one of the best of our sacred hymn-writers, and could scarcely be better set forth

"Tis done! the great transaction"s done! I am my Lord"s and he is mine! He called me and I followed on, Glad to confess the voice Divine.

The question on Saul"s lip (in the text) speaks, we say, the sure moment of his conversion. Much may prepare the way for that moment thought and feeling, honest doubt and dishonest, fear and shame and strife, convictions stifled, purposes dishonored, resolutions broken, and perversest kicking against the pricks. But these are but the always mournful, often shameful, last show of sword-play of the wicked one, who knows no pity for the subject he is so soon to lose, and when he must leave his old abode would then most discredit it. And therefore in this question, may we not find in simplest, clearest outline, the suggestions of what are the real facts involved in conversion? They are

I THE DISTINCT RESIGNING OF TRUST IN SELF. That surrender will mean the surrender of:

1. Self-guidance.

2. Much more of self-will, the determination that self shall rule and shape all.

3. The works of self.

4. The loved ends that have only self or self supremely in view.

5. Must of all, the last remnant of an idea that self can procure its own salvation. For here is a man who possibly less leaned on fellow-creature than any other man who ever lived. But let him come to know Jesus, and his first question thereupon is the childlike, leaning, humble question, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

II THE TAKING UP AND PLAIN PROFESSION OF UNDIVIDED ALLEGIANCE TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. The converted is not all at sea. That is what he once was, but not what he is now. He has not to seek and calculate between different and competing matters. That was once large part of his deep-seated unease and dissatisfaction, when "other lords many had dominion over him." But now he knows to whom his undivided allegiance belongs. That undivided allegiance takes him to Jesus Christ as:

1. Unrivaled and undisputed Teacher. He sees, knows, feels, that Jesus has won this place all his own the one grand Revealer of the deepest things of the Spirit in man and of the state of man and of the future for man. And all other knowledge he feels to be necessarily subordinate to this.

2. Perfect Example. No sculptured model so perfect for example as the delineated character, the written life of Jesus, the impress that is made on the attentive observer of his work and word and manner. Here is the sculptor seen, indeed, and his sculpture worth the studying. And Christ"s true convert will be this kind of true student of him also. He will well know the place at his feet, and his own right attitude as he sits there watching.

3. Master and Lord. He will feel that his strength and devotion belong to him. What has he done for me and what for him shall I not do?

4. One alone Savior. Whatever his trust or hope for his own future life and for his soul may once have been, he finds all now in "Jesus only." And if he were conscious of, careful for none at all before, now how earnestly he clings to Jesus, because of this his dearest name, "mighty to save" his dearest attraction! Oh, with what passionate adoration of gratitude and of love did Paul sing, and since him unnumbered millions of others have sung it, "My dear Redeemer and my Lord"! Thus Saul, in his first allegiance to Jesus, calls him "Lord," and asks him nothing else but as to what are his instructions: "What wilt thou have me to do?

III THE ALTERED PRACTICAL LIFE. Conversion means a changed heart, changed thoughts, changed feeling, a changed air and light. But it means nothing if it do not mean also a genuinely, practically changed career. No sublime enjoyment, no rich experience, no flight of sanctified imagination, no foretaste in saintly, heavenly communings with unseen realities, of "the joys" that are to come, shall satisfy Jesus, nor can satisfy Scriptures conception and representation of the convert of Christ. His life must be "Christ;" and he must await death to know his full gain. " His life must be a witness to Christ, albeit it be first strong witness against his old past self, and ever a quiet rebuke of those who live not after the same rule. The amazement and the solemn dread of those minutes of blindness and strongest excitement, when Saul lay on the earth, and was already summoned as it were to the bar of his Maker, did not prevent him, as a true convert and as type of a true convert, asking for his practical work. "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" In our ignorance, perhaps we should, a priori, have thought a more reasonable question, a more modest question, a more reverent question, might have been, "Lord, where wilt thou have me to go go hide myself? "Where wilt thou have me go," that I may shed bitter tears and do penance for the past. "Where wilt thou have me go," that I may pass through the fires of some purgatory, and be proved by some solemn ordeal? But no, the question cannot be mistaken, misreported, or altered. It is, "What wilt thou have me to do? And Jesus tells him, and does not say new, "This is the work of God, that you believe on me." He tells him, and it proves very shortly, how really he had "to do," to "spend and be spent," "to labor more abundantly than they all," and to prove his conversion by his changed life and its fruits. For vain, unspeakably vain, the profession of a changed heart and the hopes of Christ and of heaven, without the proof that lies in the changed life. B.

The power of a revelation.

There are solemn seasons in the life of every man, e.g. birthdays, times of sickness, first leaving home. Of all such days, perhaps the most solemn, the one with the wider consequences, is the time of our conversion. It is not usual for the Scriptures to give us what we find in modern biographies detailed accounts of the precise experiences of such times; e.g. of Lydiawe only know that the Lord opened her heart," and of the jailor at Philippi that, in sudden alarm, he cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" We may, therefore, ask why so full an account is given us of the experience of Saul of Tarsus? The answer is found in his subsequent prominence as a Christian missionary, and in the necessity for assuring the fact that so bitter a persecutor and so zealous a Pharisee was really changed into a disciple. Some have further suggested that he was intended, in the Divine providence, to take the place from which Judas by transgression fell, and that it must be publicly known how he had received his direct commission from the risen Lord, if he was to be recognized as one of the apostolic band. The conversion of men is, in mode, as varied as are their minds, characters, and circumstances. Yet there are some essential things which may be well studied in connection with this narrative of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.

I SAUL"S PREPARATION FOR RECEIVING A DIVINE REVELATION. Every true conversion is effected by a revelation of God to the soul. It need not be a visible revelation, such as was suitable to other times. It must be an awakening of the soul to the apprehension of Divine things, and a direct dealing of God with the awakened soul. This cardinal truth must never be lost sight of in our active use of Christian means and agencies. The unregenerate man does not know God; he cannot apprehend the holiness, the claim, or the love of God. These must be unfolded to him by revelation. As illustrations of what is meant by" conversion by revelation," see the vision of God to Jacob at Bethel, and the voice of God to Samuel in the night hours, when he was but a youth. But the capacity to receive a Divine revelation depends on previous preparations, and we have to inquire How was Saul of Tarsus prepared? In answer the following things must be carefully treated:

1. His education and early associations as a Jew and as a Pharisee. This involved considerable knowledge of Scripture, and a theory of the possibility of Divine communications with the individual.

2. His naturally impulsive and impetuous disposition, which led him to undertake things in an intense way, but left him exposed to the peril of sudden change of opinion and conduct, and to the danger of giving up an enterprise as suddenly as he had begun it. This disposition prepared him to be influenced by the sudden surprise on the Damascus road.

3. The ideas about Jesus Christ which he gained from the party at Jerusalem to which he belonged. Those ideas rested altogether on thin proposition: "The impostor Jesus is not risen from the dead. " If it could be proved or shown that he was, then the whole doctrine concerning him held by Pharisee and Sadducee fell down about them, as a house built on the sand in a day of storms. And so God overrules men"s lives now to prepare them for his revelations. Illustrate by the ways in which

1. the satiety of pleasure,

2. the pollutions of vice,

3. prolonged skepticism,

4. failure of efforts,

5. serious illness,

6. the naturally inquiring mind, or

7. sudden bereavements, are overruled to become Divine preparations for our" days of grace.

II THE EFFECT OF THE REVELATION ON THE MIND OF SAUL. To his Jewish notions the light from heaven would seem to be manifestly Divine, and his first thought would be that God was honoring him with a commission to exterminate the Nazarenes. It must have come to him with startling and painful surprise that the voice speaking from heaven to him should be the voice of Jesus of Nazareth. His prejudices were crushed down in a moment. Jesus was not an impostor; he was accepted of God. Jesus was not dead; he spoke out of heaven. In Saul"s response there is:

1. Conviction. If Jesus is after all the Messiah, then what have I been doing? Nothing less than fighting against the God I thought I was serving. There was no need for him to search his life and try to find every particular sin; for he felt the sin of unbelief. And unbelief is sin against every attribute of God, against his

(1) justice,

(2) holiness,

(3) wisdom,

(4) love.

Observe that this conviction of sin was felt by one who was outwardly moral. And the true conviction is not the finding of some dark, polluting deeds in our life; it is the feeling of the pollution, the godlessness, the self-seeking of our evil hearts. In his response is:

2. Penitence. Men may be convicted, and go no further. Penitence involves

(1) the sense of sin as committed against God, illustrate by sentences of David, Peter to Ananias, and Prodigal Son;

(2) sorrow for sin and earnest purpose to forsake it;

(3) submission, as in this incident the proud Pharisee becomes as simple as a child;

(4) surrender, a special act of yielding will and heart and life to Christ.

What, then, is essential to a true conversion to God?

(1) Not any particular form of experience,

(2) not any precise time, but

(3) the sense of sin and

(4) a full surrender to Christ.

The difference between common faith and saving faith is mainly this saving faith is faith with a sense of need and personal application.

III THE EVIDENCES THAT SAUL HAD RECEIVED A DIVINE REVELATION.

1. Changed inward life: "Behold, he prayeth!

2. Changed outward conduct. Contrast him keeping the clothes of them that slew Stephen, and preaching at Damascus the very faith he had sought to destroy.

Appeal to those whom God has been preparing by his providential orderings to receive his revelation. Maybe that revelation comes through this message. If so, what will your response to it he? R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall be told thee - So God himself sends Saul to be taught by a man, as the angel does Cornelius, chap. x, 5. Admirable condescension! that the Lord deals with us by men, like ourselves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. How easily God can make the fiercest persecutor to quake and tremble: Saul is struck down, but it is to convert him, not confound him; he trembles, but his trembling was in order to rejoicing. It was a favourable, though an affrighting stroke, which struck him down, but with design to raise him up again. Humiliation for sin, in some measure, always goes before a soul’s acceptance of Christ, and subjection to him.

Observe, 2. How ready and desirous a converted person is to know and do the mind and will of God; Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He is inquisitive after his duty, and desirous of the knowledge of it. We may sooner find fire without heat, than a true convert without operative grace. It is not, Lord, what wilt thou have me to say? but, What wilt thou have me to do? It is not the talking, but the walking and working person that is the true Christian.

Observe, 3. God’s answer to Saul’s inquiry; Arise, go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Mark, He was going to Damascus before on the devil’s errand, now God bids him go; he had better authority for his going thither now, than what he had from the high priest before: he went before for others’ destruction; he now goes for his own instruction, in order salvation: There shall be told thee what thou must do.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 5

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee, etc. The question, to which this seems to be the answer is omitted in the Revision and the oldest MSS. He must enter the church just as others. The Lord had appeared to him in order that he might be qualified for apostleship by having seen Christ, but he must learn the way of the gospel from one of its preachers. Christ never told a mortal how to be saved after he gave the Great Commission to the church.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

6. ἀλλὰ ἀνάστηθι, but arise. Saul had continued prostrate during the vision, just where he had been struck down at first.

εἰς τὴν πόλιν, into the city. Here is another proof that the party of travellers had arrived very nearly at Damascus. Tradition here, as in many other instances, has fixed on a spot as the scene of this divine vision. It is placed outside the eastern gate, and about a mile from the city. Such a situation answers very well, but its fitness is the only ground for attaching any weight to the tradition.

ὅ τι σε δεῖ ποιεῖν, what thou must do. It is very uncommon in N.T. Greek to find ὅ τι in an indirect question, the usual form being τί. Cf. Mat 20:22, οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε, and numerous other instances. See also Winer-Moulton, p. 210.

It will be noticed that, in Act 26:16-18, St Paul gives an abstract of the labours for which Christ had designed him, and the words in that passage appear as a portion of the divine communication made before Saul entered Damascus. In that narrative however no mention is made of Ananias or his visit, but the Apostle has given instead a brief notice of the message which Ananias brought to him, and therein is contained a declaration of those things which Jesus in the vision only spake of as ‘what thou must do.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Trembling and astonished. The best texts omit.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.