Acts 26
1 "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art
permitted to speak for thyself. Then
Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:" And for then,
Authorized Version; his
for the, Authorized Version; made his defense for answered
for himself, Authorized Version. Agrippa said. It was by the courtesy of Festus that
Agrippa thus took the chief place. It was, perhaps, with the like courtesy that Agrippa
said, impersonally, Thou art permitted, without specifying whether by himself or by
Festus. Stretched forth his hand. The action of an orator, rendered in this case still
more impressive by the chains which hung upon his arms. Luke here relates what
he saw. Made his defense (ἀπελογεῖτο - apelogeito); ch. 25:8;
24:10, note.
2 "I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because
I shall answer for myself
this day before thee
touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:"
That I am to make my
defense before thee this day for
because I shall answer for
myself this day before thee, Authorized Version; by for of, Authorized Version.
3 "Especially because I know thee to be
expert in all customs and questions
which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently."
Thou art expert for I know thee to be expert, Authorized Version and Textus
Receptus. Expert; γνώστην - gnostaen, here only in the New Testament, but
found in the Septuagint (Daniel, i.e. History of Susanna 42) applied to God,
ὁ τῶν κρυπτῶν γνώστης - ho ton krupton gnostaes - expert on secrets - and
I Samuel 28:3 and II Kings 21:6, as the rendering of יִדֹּעְנִי, a wizard. It is seldom
found in classical Greek. According to the Received Text, which is that generally
adopted (Meyer, Kuinoel,
Wordsworth, Alford, etc.), the accusative γνώστην
ὄντα σέ - gnostaen onta se – expert being you is put, by a not uncommon
construction, for the genitive absolute, as in Ephesians 1:18. The marginal
rendering, because thou art especially expert, seems preferable to that in the text.
Customs and questions. For the use of ἐθῶν - ethon – customs and ζητημάτων
- zaetaematon – questions applied to Jewish customs and controversies, see
ch. 6:14; 16:21; 21:21, etc.; and 25:19, note.
The Conditions of Hearing to Profit (v. 3)
“Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.” The occasion of these
words of the apostle may be justly viewed all round as a
model occasion of
public speaking for the preacher, and of listening for the
hearer. A certain
amount of result, and of very powerful result, was gained,
though
confessedly not all that could have been wished. It is not
the less to be
noticed that just that, however, was gained which
may be supposed
obtainable by the faithful use of the best human means. And
for the rest,
the work was stayed where, in the very truest sense, we are
warranted to
say, “Permitte cetera Deo,” or the results
belong to God. The occasion,
perhaps unintentionally enough, reveals the great standing
conditions of
effective preaching and profiting hearing. There must be:
Ř He must know his subject.
Ř He must feel deeply his subject.
Ř He must handle a subject which concerns
his hearers, and is neither
above them
nor beside their needs.
Ř He must know the graces of speech, but
specially that of respectfulness
and courtesy
towards those whose ear he wishes to gain.
Who might
command may sometimes better “beseech” (Philemon 1: 8-9), and so
much the more
if one thing that he asks for is the thing so rare, so difficult,
patience.
determine the question in what
such preparedness may most truly consist.
We have here to do with only a
certain human range of preparedness.
Ř
The hearer must be
open, ready, willing to hear and capable of
understanding. Paul does not speak
hollow words. He knows he
can make much greater progress
with Agrippa than with Festus,
because Agrippa was really not
unversed in matters of revealed truth.
Ř
The hearer must be
prepared to give his mind patiently to the great
subjects that may be exhibited
to him. They are what may well require
patience.
Ř
He must be honest to
make decision and to take action on what he has
heard. So far Agrippa went a
long way towards being “a good hearer”
of THE WORD!
Ř
If the case be such, he
must be ready to give full public profession of
his decision. In this
Agrippa failed. He and Festus only “talked
between
themselves.”
4 "My manner of life from my youth, which was
at the first among mine
own nation at
my youth. Authorized Version; from the beginning for at the first. Authorized
Version; and at for at, Authorized Version and Textus Receptus. My manner
of life, etc. The same testimony of a good conscience as that in ch. 23:1 and 24:16.
The word βίωσιν - biosin – course of life occurs only here in the New Testament.
But we find the phrase, τῆς ἐννόμου βιώσεως - taes ennomou bioseos - the manner
of life according to the Law," in the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus and in Symmachus
(Psalm 38:6),
though not in classical Greek. The verb βιῶσαι – biosai – to spend
life - occurs in I Peter 4:2, and not infrequently in the Septuagint. From my youth up,
which was from the beginning among my own nation, etc., having knowledge of
me from the first (in v. 5). No appeal could be stronger as to the notoriety of his
whole life spent in the midst of his own people, observed and known of all. The
Textus Receptus
implies that his youth was spent at
he himself tells us in ch. 22:3. The Received Text does so less distinctly. (For Paul's
account of his early Pharisaism, compare Galatians 1:13-14; Philippians 3:5-6.)
5 "Which knew me from the beginning, if they
would testify, that after the
most straitest sect of our religion I lived a
Pharisee." Having knowledge of
me from the first for which knew me from the beginning, Authorized Version;
be willing to for would, Authorized Version; how that for that, Authorized Version;
straitest for most straitest,
Authorized Version. Straitest (ἀκριβεστάτην –
akribestataen - strictest); see ch. 22:3; 18:26, etc. Sect (αἵρεσιν - hairesin); see
ch. 24:14, note. He does not disclaim being still a Pharisee. On the contrary, in the
next verse (v. 6) he declares, as he had done in ch. 23:6, that it was for the chief
hope of the Pharisees that he was now accused. He tries to enlist all the good
feeling that yet remained among the Jews on his side.
Paul a Pharisee (v. 5)
Very remarkable is the skill shown by the apostle in the adaptation
of his
defenses before different rulers. This Agrippa prided
himself upon his
Jewish knowledge, and would be quite familiar with the
Jewish sects. The
offences charged against Paul related chiefly to Jewish
ceremonial and
rights, so the apostle could make no answer which would
influence
Agrippa so certainly as the answer given in the text, “After
the most
straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.” Agrippa would know that a
man born and brought up as a Pharisee was not in the least
likely to offend
against the customs and rites which that body so jealously
preserved.
Conybeare and Howson say, “Not only was
Paul a Pharisee, but his fathers
and teachers belonged to this sect. This is nearly all we
know of Paul’s
parents. We can conceive of the apostle as born in the
Pharisaic family, and
as brought up from his infancy in the ‘straitest
sect’ of the Jewish religion.
His childhood was nurtured in the strictest belief, as he
had before him the
example of his father who prayed and walked with broad
phylacteries, and
were scrupulous and exact in their legal observances. He
had, moreover,
the memory and tradition of ancestral piety, for he tells
us that he served
God ‘from his forefathers.’ Everything,
therefore, tended to prepare him to
be an eminent member of that theological party to which so
many of the
Jews were looking for the preservation of their natural
life, and extension
of their natural creed.” Compare Paul’s account of himself
as given in
Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:5-6. We dwell on the fact of Paul’s
Pharisaic
birth, education, and sympathies, in order to show:
ought to have been peculiarly
acceptable to the Jews. The bias of his life
was wholly in favor of
ceremonial Judaism. He might have been looked to
as one of the noblest champions
of Mosaism. He did come out as a leader
of the party which persecuted
the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He had
never separated himself from the
Jewish rites and ordinances. To the close
of life he maintained his Pharisaism. He pleaded, indeed, for liberty from
ritual bonds on behalf of the
Gentile converts, but he did not take the
liberty for himself; so that, if
the Jews had not yielded to blinding prejudice,
they might have found in this
Christian Pharisee the conservator of all the
essentials of Mosaism. It should be clearly seen that Paul at once
admitted the new light that came
from God, and jealously conserved the
old, which had also come from Him.
No doubt the apostle saw that the
Jewish system would fade away,
and give place to a spiritual religion for
which simpler forms would
suffice; but it was no part of his mission to
hurry on the time of the passing
away. His point was this — Jewish bonds
must not be laid on Gentile
converts. Judaism cannot be aggressive; it must
keep well within its own lines
and limits.
MADE AGAINST HIM. It
made those charges seem ridiculous. One
brought up as a zealous Pharisee
insultingly defiling the sacred temple was
simply absurd. Such a man could
not have done such a thing. And the
assumption further was that the
public teachings of such a man could not
be out of harmony with true
Judaism. Men are true to themselves: they do
not make themselves ridiculous
by such open inconsistencies. Paul may
plead in answer to all their
charges, “I was, I am, a Pharisee.”
PREPARATION FOR HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE. Such an
education established a strong
conviction concerning three things.
Ř The direct ruling and intervention of
Jehovah, so that, at any time, any of
His
servants might have direct and personal communications from Him.
The fathers
and the prophets had received such revelations, and revelations
and visions
may come to men still.
Ř The
importance of Holy Scripture, as given by inspiration of God.
Ř And
the expectation of Messiah, as fulfilling Scripture prophecy and
promise. It may easily be shown how those Pharisaic
sentiments prepared
for:
o
the
vision at
o
the
key which that vision gave to Scripture, and especially to the
figure of
Messiah presented in the Scripture.
Compare
the difference of result if Paul had been by birth and education
a doubting,
skeptical Sadducee. True Christianity is the natural and
proper
outcome
of true Pharisaism.
Those who were loyal to the idea of the
theocracy,
and to the Scripture as the human expression of the Divine will
and
purpose, ought to have been led to a full acceptance of Jesus
of
that in a man’s early years is displayed the character that is to distinguish
his
whole life; and that we are all greatly dependent
on the tone of the
influences
that surround our infancy and childhood. Manhood should not,
indeed,
witness the mere continuance of childhood’s prejudices, it should
be
the true and worthy development, adaptation, and application of
childhood’s
principles.
6 "And now I stand and am judged for the hope
of the promise made of God
unto our fathers:" Here to be judged for and am judged, Authorized Version.
To be judged (ἕστηκα κρινόμενος - hestaeka krinomenos – I stand being judged);
rather, I stand on my trial. The Authorized Version seems to give the sense well.
The hope of the promise. The hope of the
implies the resurrection of the dead. (see ch. 17:31) This hope, which rested upon
God's promise to the fathers, Paul clung to; this hope his Sadducean persecutors
denied. He, then, was the true Jew; he was faithful to Moses and the prophets; he
claimed the sympathy and support of all true Israelites, and specially of King Agrippa.
The
Messianic Promise (v. 6)
The words of this verse include the whole expectation of a
Divine
kingdom, of which the Christ was to be the Head, as well as
the specific
belief in a resurrection of the dead. It is said of the early revelations of
God, by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, “God,
having of old time
spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions
and in divers
manners” (Hebrews
1:1 - Revised Version). And the presentation of Messiah in
the Old Testament Scriptures has been likened to the
painting of a great picture,
on which, during the many ages, many hands have worked. At
first we have
but the barest outline figure, drawn by God Himself in the
promise to our
first parents. (Genesis 3:15) Then patriarch, lawgiver, judge, king, poet,
and
prophet in their turn become artist-painters, and help to
fill in the wondrous
outline, until in the later days of Isaiah the Messiah
stands forth full and clear
before us, the suffering, conquering King. Dealing with the
scriptural
promise of Messiah, the Prince and Savior, we note:
first hours of the world’s sin
and woe. Almost before the shadow of man’s
sin could fall upon his life, God sent forth this great ray of hope.
Ř
For every
generation;
Ř
for every new set of
circumstances,
Ř
in ever-varied forms,
Ř
with a gracious
advancing clearness and fullness.
would not take the Messianic
figure as a whole, but chose the parts of it
which they preferred. And
because men did not take the revelation in its
simplicity, but read it in the
light of their circumstances, and especially of
their temporal necessities. So a
nation whose liberty had been taken from
them only saw in Messianic
promise a liberator, a Judas Maccabeus, a
triumphing prince, after the
pattern indicated by Daniel.
Ř
Messiah is for men, not for Jews only,
Ř
for sinners, and not for an
enslaved nation only.
7 "Unto which promise our twelve tribes,
instantly serving God day and night,
hope to come. For which
hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews."
Earnestly for instantly, Authorized Version; night and day for day and night,
Authorized Version; attain
for come, Authorized Version; and concerning this
hope I am accused by
the Jews, O King! for for which hope's sake, King Agrippa,
I am accused of the
Jews, Authorized Version and Textus Receptus. Our twelve
tribes. Δωδεκάφυλον - Dodekaphulon – twelve tribes - only occurs here, in the
Sibylline oracles, and in the prot-evangel. Jacob., 3, and in Clement's 1 Corinthians
55, but is formed, after the analogy of such words as δωδεκαετής, δωδεκάμοιρος,
δωδεκάμηνος, τετράφυλος, δεκάφυλος (Herod., 5:66), and the like. The idea of
the twelve tribes of
So our Lord (Matthew 19:28; James 1:1; Revelation 7:4, etc.). Paul felt and spoke
like a thorough Israelite. Earnestly; ἐν ἐκτενείᾳ - en ekteneia – in earnest, only
here and in II Maccabees 14:38 (where Razis is said to have risked his body and
his life for the religion of the Jews, μετᾶ πάσης ἐκτενίας - meta pasaes ektenias –
with all vehemence,
Authorized Version), and Judith 4:9, where the phrase, ἐν
ἐκτενίᾳ μεγάλῃ - en ektenia megalae - with great vehemency; with great fervency;
Authorized Version, occurs twice, applied to prayer and to self-humiliation. The
adjective ἐκτενής - ektenaes – earnest - occurs in ch. 12:5; Luke 22:44; I Peter 4:8;
and ἐκτενῶς - ektenos – earnestly - in 1 Peter 1:22. Serving (λατρεῦον - latreuon -
offering divine service); i.e. serving with worship, prayers, sacrifices and the like.
The allusion is to the temple service, with its worship by night and by day
(compare Psalm 134:1; I Chronicles 9:33).
8 "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you, that God should raise
the dead?" Why is
it judged incredible with you, if for
why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you, that, Authorized Version; doth for should, Authorized
Version. Why is it judged, etc. The use of εἰ - ei - if - is somewhat peculiar. It cannot
stand for ὅτι - hoti - that, but it is nearly equivalent to "whether," as in v. 23. The
question proposed to the mind is here whether God has raised the dead; and in v. 23
whether Christ has suffered, whether He is the first to rise. In the latter case Paul
gives the answer by his witness to the truth, affirming that it is so. In the former case
he chides his hearers for giving the answer of unbelief, and saying that it is not so.
The Hope of the Promise (vs. 6-8)
It is a thing of deepest interest and significance that we
can note so clearly,
so repeatedly, what it was ever lay so close to the heart
that craved the
better, that was not dead, that reached towards light. It
was ever that one
transporting hope that grows out of the death and resurrection of Jesus,
the hope of future and eternal life, the vista of an abiding
city, a heavenly
in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1) We learn here that, under whatever
various aspects and with whatever needful accompaniments:
WHAT SHOULD BE THE CONTRADICTION OF SIN’S
PRONOUNCED WORK,
DEATH. The hope
of the promise was the
hope of eternal
life and of heaven.
THE FORM OF A “PROMISE,” “MADE OF GOD,” TO A CERTAIN
FEW, WHO WOULD HALLOW IT
ABOVE ALL ELSE THEY HAD.
TENACIOUSLY, AND IN THESE RESPECTS WELL JUSTIFYING
ITS DIVINE ADAPTATION.
TURNED ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, IN ONE
TREMENDOUS INSTANCE OF IT, NAMELY, THE RESURRECTION
OF JESUS.
WHOM THIS PROMISE, AN HEIRLOOM
SO PRECIOUS, WAS
GIVEN, REVEALED THEMSELVES, WHEN THE VERY HOUR OF
UNSPEAKABLE GLORY CAME, AND
WITH IT THE TEST CAME,
AND NATURE REGARDED REVELATION AS INCREDIBLE, AND
THE EYES OF NATURE DISCREDITED THEIR OWN TESTIMONY,
THOUGH THE DIVINE FACT WAS THERE, THE RESURRECTION
OF JESUS. One of the correctest
commentaries on the letter and the spirit
of this striking and beautiful
passage and the similar parallel passages, is
found in the exquisite little
poem of J. H. Newman, entitled “Moses seeing
the Land.”
“My
father’s hope! my childhood’s dream!
The promise from on high!
Long
waited for! its glories beam
Now when my death is nigh.
“My death
is come, but not decay;
Nor eye nor mind is dim;
The
keenness of youth’s vigorous day
Thrills in each nerve and limb.
“Blest
scene! thrice welcome after toil —
If no deceit I view;
Oh, might
my lips but press the soil,
And prove the vision true!
“Its
glorious heights, its wealthy plains,
Its many-tinted groves,
They call!
But He my steps restrains
Who chastens whom He loves.
“Ah! now
they melt... they are but shades...
I die! — yet is no rest,
O Lord! in
store, since
But seen, and not possest?”
The
Credibility of the Resurrection (v. 8)
If it be an incredible doctrine, it must be so because to
raise men from the
dead is physically impossible or morally unlikely in a very
high degree. But:
Ř The continuance of the spirit in existence
after death is certainly not
impossible;
indeed, it is the discontinuance which has seemed so
impossible that
to many thinkers its permanency appears to be a necessity.
The difficulty,
to many minds, is to understand how a spirit can be
dissolved and
destroyed.
Ř Its re-association with a human body of
some kind is also possible, and to
almighty power and wisdom easy of execution. The same Divine strength
and skill
which created and fashioned man as he is can surely continue his
existence and
his powers under similar conditions to the present ones. He
who
has made us what we are can make
us again, more or
less closely
associated
with the bodily frame which is our present home and organ.
(I should think that it
would be easier to remake us than having made
us in the first place! CY – 2018)
ASSURE THE WORLD OF HIS DIVINITY, and of the heavenly origin
of the faith he taught, is
credible enough. Granted that Jesus Christ was
the
Son of God and Savior of the world,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so far
from being incredible or even
improbable, is positively demanded.
(ch. 17:31)
AND ASCENDED SAVIOR IS PERFECTLY CREDITABLE. Granted
what we have assumed, and that,
therefore, Jesus Christ is Savior, Lord, and
Friend of believing, loving, and
faithful disciples, it follows that He would
exert His Divine
power and raise them to his heavenly kingdom, that they
might share His
honor and His blessedness. The real
difficulty is not in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ or
in that of His disciples; it is in the assumption
which lies behind — the
assumption that Jesus Christ was one who came
down from heaven to redeem a
fallen race. That granted, everything else
follows necessarily. We maintain
that:
INCREDIBLE IDEA.
There is much within us and around us that points
to the presence of a holy and
living Father of spirits. If we make our appeal
to our own hearts — and there is
nothing higher than a living human heart
from which to argue to the
Divine — we shall conclude that to restore
His
fallen children
by the sacrifice of Himself was just that very thing which
the infinite
Father would do. There is nothing more probable, more credible
than that:
Ř
Redeeming love is
a well-attested fact.
Ř
The resurrection of
Christ is involved in that fact.
Ř The resurrection of man is an inference from that.
o Regard it as a certainty.
o
Prepare for it as an
event in which we have all the deepest
personal interest.
The Incredibility of the Resurrection (v. 8)
This sudden appeal appears to be made for two reasons.
1. Because Agrippa
professed to believe in the Scriptures, which certainly
contained records of resurrections (see I Kings 17:17-23; II
Kings 4:18-37).
2. Because the
Sadducee party was the one which was most active against
the apostle, and they were chiefly offended by his
preaching the doctrine of
the resurrection, based upon the resurrection of Jesus, the
Messiah.
Possibly Paul may have known that the doctrine of
resurrection was a
stumbling-block and hindrance to Agrippa. Men in all ages have stumbled
at the difficulty of resurrection. It appears to be so contrary
to the order of
nature; and, so far as human power and skill are
concerned, death is so
manifestly an irremediable woe. But is resurrection incredible? Three
answers may be given.
credible enough if it can be
adequately proved. And the test case must
be
the resurrection of
our Lord. It is not enough to dismiss
this case as
miraculous; we must fairly
consider the proofs of the fact. Review them as
given by Paul in I Corinthians
15., and set them alongside the historical
details given in the Gospels,
showing the credibility of the witnesses, etc.
No fact of history can be
received unless its testimony is accepted without
prejudice.
If we can accept greater, it
cannot be unreasonable to accept it. St.
Augustine well expresses this
point. He says, “It is a greater
miracle to
make that which
is not than to repair that which is. Why cannot God raise
us after we are
turned into dust, who, if we ever were reduced to nothing,
could give us a
being?” To create man is a greater miracle than to re-create
him; and we are not unreasonable
in asserting that HE WHO CAN
ACCOMPLISH THE ONE CERTAINLY CAN ACCOMPLISH THE
OTHER!
MAKE REASONABLE THE BELIEF IN RESURRECTION. These are
fully given in works on the
resurrection, and are familiarly used in sermons
on this topic. Especially may
analogies be found in springtime resurrections
and insect changes. Science,
too, finds analogies, for it discovers that
nothing really is destroyed, but
all things reappear in other and varied
forms. It is but a beginning of
argument on behalf of the sure and sublime
truth of the resurrection, but
it is an important beginning to be able to say
— It is not
a thing incredible that GOD SHOULD RAISE THE DEAD!
9 "I verily thought with myself, that I ought
to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus of
confessing that he himself had once felt like them, and insinuates the hope that
they would change their minds as he had, and proceeds to give them good
reason for doing so. Contrary to the Name (Galatians 1:13; I Timothy 1:13).
Jesus of
member of "the
sect of the Nazarenes" (see ch. 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 10:33, etc.).
10 "Which thing I also did in
in prison, having
received authority from the chief priests; and when they
were put to death, I gave my voice against them." And this for which thing,
Authorized Version; I both shut up for did I shut up, Authorized Version
(with a change of order); prisons for prison, Authorized Version; vote for voice,
Authorized Version. I... shut up. The ἐγώ - ego – I - is emphatic. The verb
κατακλείω - katakleio – locks up, peculiar to Luke (see Luke 3:20) is much
used by medical writers. Were put to death; ἀναιρουμένων – anairoumenon,
a word frequent in Luke's writings, and much used in medical works, as well as
gave ἀναίρεσι
- anairesi – assassination (ch. 8:1 ). The phrase κατήνεγκα ψῆφον
-
katapherein psaephon – I deposit
ballot - is unusual; φέρειν ψῆφον
- pherein
psaephon - is the more common phrase, both in Josephus and in classical writers.
I my vote, etc. Not, as Meyer and others take it, "I assented to it, at the moment
of their being killed," equivalent to συνευδοκῶν
- suneudokon – consenting;
endorsing of ch. 22:20; but rather," when the Christians were being punished
with death, I was one of those who in the Sanhedrin voted for their death."
Gradations in Guilt (vs. 9-10)
The old notion that, as sin is committed against an
infinite God, it must
itself be an infinite evil, and that,
therefore, all sins are equally heinous and
offensive, is held no longer. Its logic is unsound, and our
moral sense
contradicts the theory. The fact is that the degrees of
human guilt in the
multitude of actions men perform, under a vast variety of
conditions, are
indefinitely numerous. Only The
Omniscient God can possibly
discriminate and
compute them. But there are some simple principles on which
we may
safely rely for our spiritual guidance. We judge:
THE GUILTIEST OF ALL POSITIONS. “Doing things contrary to…
Jesus Christ,” when these things are done by an agent who knows what he
does, reaches the very summit of iniquity. “This
is the condemnation,
that
light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their
deeds were evil. ” When men oppose
themselves to Christian
truth because “their deeds are evil,” because “their craft is in danger,”
Because they hate THE LIGHT which exposes their sin and robs them of
their gains or their enjoyments, then they stand in the very front rank of
criminality; they deliberately take up arms
against their Maker; “They take
counsel together, against the Lord, and
against his Anointed, saying, Let
us break their
bands asunder,”
etc.; they say, “This is the Son; come,
let us kill Him,” (Luke 20:14) Surely God will trouble
these “with his sore
displeasure” (Psalm 2:3,5).
When men refrain from taking an
active part against the cause of Christ
and His truth, doing “nothing contrary,” etc., they shun the
very worst
possible thing. But when they
attempt to take neutral ground, and either:
Ř reject the claims which Christ makes on
their personal subjection
(Matthew 9:9;
11:28-29, etc.), or
Ř refuse to render the help they can bring to
His cause (Matthew
21:30;
25:18,
etc.), then they fall into great condemnation, and must “bear
their
iniquity” (see
Matthew 7:26-27; Luke 13:25-28; Judges 5:23).
MATERIALLY AFFECTS THE DEGREE OF GUILT. Clearly Paul was
not so guilty in his acts of
persecution as he would have been, had he not
“thought that he
ought to do many things contrary,”
etc. He himself tells us
that this ignorance of his was a
great mitigation of the sinfulness of his act
(see I Timothy 1:13). Our Lord
also gave his own Divine sanction to
this truth when suffering the
pangs of crucifixion “Father, forgive them;
for they know not
what they do.” (Luke 23:34).
Ř Ignorance changes the character of the
sin. What Paul was
guilty of in
those days was
not the deliberate attempt to crush the work of a Divine
Redeemer; he
would have recoiled from so doing, had the act presented
itself thus to
his mind. His mistake, his
condemnation, was that he had not
fairly and impartially
considered the claims of Jesus of Nazareth; that he
had blindly
assumed that his teachers were right, guiltily neglecting
all the
proofs which the Savior had given that he was the
Messiah “that
should
come
into the world.”
Ř It also greatly reduces its turpitude, not to have inquired as we should
have
done — this is wrong
and blameworthy. But it is not so serious an
offence, in the
sight of God or of man, as willfully and wantonly to
conspire
against the Lord, and to seek to positively hinder the coming of
His kingdom. It
may rightly comfort those who, like Paul, have to look
back on
offences which they have committed, when they can say, with him,
“I
verily thought,”
etc.; when it can be said to them, “Brethren,
I wot that
through ignorance ye did it” (ch.
3:17). (I recommend II Kings 5 –
Spurgeon Sermon
– I Thought – # 626 - this website –
CY – 2018)
BLAME. It is conceivable
that men may be so circumstanced that their
ignorance is absolute, and
therefore wholly faultless. In this case there is no
guilt. But how seldom is it of this kind! Usually when we do “things
contrary” to truth, righteousness, God, we might
have known better if we
had inquired more
promptly or more purely.
“If
I willfully keep my conscience in darkness and continue
in errors which I might easily know to be such
by a little
thought and searching of God’s
Word, then my conscience
can offer me no excuse for I am
guilty of blindfolding the
guide
which I have chosen and then knowing him to be blindfolded,
I
am guilty of the folly of letting him lead me into rebellion against God.”
We may not excuse ourselves if
we have kept out of our mind any light
we might have admitted. We may apply this to:
Ř
the doctrines we
are accepting;
Ř
the leaders we
are encouraging;
Ř
the business we
are conducting;
Ř
the family we
are training.
11 "And I
punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to
blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad
against them, I persecuted them
even unto strange cities." Punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues,
I strove to make them blaspheme for I punished them oft in every synagogue,
and compelled them to blaspheme, Authorized Version; foreign for strange,
Authorized Version. In all the synagogues. Those in Jerusalem, as the contrast
of the foreign cities shows. (For the facts, see ch. 8:1, 3.) I strove, etc. The
"compelled" of the Authorized Version is the natural rendering of ἠνάγκαζον –
aenagkazon – I compelled (Matthew 14:22; Luke 14:23; ch.28:19, etc.); but it
does not necessarily follow that the compulsion was successful. It might be in
some cases, and not in others. Pliny, in his letter to Trajan, says that those who
were accused of being Christians cleared themselves by calling upon the gods,
offering to the image of the emperor, and cursing Christ, none of which things,
it is said, true Christians ("qui sunt revera Christiani") can be compelled to do
('Epist.,' 10, 95, quoted by Kuinoel). Mad against them; ἐμμαινόμενος αὐτοῖς –
emmainomenos autois, only here; but the adjective ἐμμανής - emmanaes - frantic,
is not uncommon in classical writers.
The Reckless Rushing to Assume the Moral
Responsibilities of Others
An
Exceeding Madness (v. 11)
We are to understand this extraordinary verse to reveal
rather what Paul
confesses it was in his heart to do, and in the nature of
his own actions to
cause others to do, than what he succeeded in doing, in all
respects. The
two or three touches give us a wonderfully and strangely
vivid picture. And
suggest, not so much for Paul who confessed and forsook his
evil way, but
for many others who do neither the one nor the other, how
suicidal their
course, not uncontent with the
weight of their own responsibilities, they
would presume to tamper with the conscience of others,
and lade
themselves with some share in all that is most dread of
the moral nature of
their fellows. Let us notice that those who will forcibly seek to
interfere
with the moral and religious convictions of others do:
AGAINST THEIR OWN CONSCIENCE.
THE ABSOLUTELY SAFE STANDARD.
STAYING A GOOD WORK THAT OTHERWISE WAS GROWING IN
THE HEART OF ANOTHER.
BLASPHEMERS, BACKSLIDERS, APOSTATES.
CAUSES OF LOSS AND PERHAPS OF INFINITE MENTAL PAIN
AND DISASTROUS CONFLICT TO THEM. Against every one of these
courted responsibilities
Christ’s own clearest warnings are offered, and His
calmest, most solemn judgments
pronounced upon those who taught them.
(For
instance, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in
me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew
18:6 – CY
– 2018)
12 "Whereupon
as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from
the chief priests," Journeyed for went, Authorized Version; with
the authority...
of for with authority... from, Authorized Version and Textus Receptus.
Commission; ἐπιτροπῆς - epitropaes - permission, here only in the New Testament.
But ἐπίτροπος - epitropos is a "steward" (Matthew 20:8; Luke 8:3); and hence the
Roman procurator was called in Greek, ἐπίτροπος, and so were governors generally,
as those who acted with a delegated authority. The chief priests. In ch. 9:1 Saul is
said to have applied to "the chief priest" for authority. The high priest, as president
of the Sanhedrim, acted with the other chief priests (ch. 9:14).
13
"At midday, O king, I saw in the way a
light from heaven, above the
brightness
of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed
with me." On for in, Authorized Version; that for which, Authorized Version.
At
midday. "About
noon" (ch.
22:6). It enhanced the wonder of that
light from
heaven
that it should be seen above the brightness of the sun at midday, in such
14
"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 persecutest thou me?
it
is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks." Saying unto me in the Hebrew
language for speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Authorized
Version
and Textus Receptus; goad for pricks, Authorized Version. I
heard a
voice saying, etc. (see ch. 9:7, note). In the Hebrew language. This is an
additional detail not mentioned in ch. 9:4 or ch. 22:8; but recalled here,
as tending to confirm Paul's claim to be a thorough Jew, a Hebrew of the
Hebrews, and, moreover, to represent Christianity as a thing not alien from,
but rather in thorough harmony with, the true national life and spirit of Israel.
It is hard for thee to kick, etc. This, also, according to the best manuscripts,
is
an additional detail not mentioned before. The proverb Πρὸς
κέντρα λακτίζειν
–
Pros kentra laktizein - , to kick against the ox-goads, as the unbroken bullock
does to his own hurt, instead of quietly submitting, as he must do at last, to go
the way and the pace his master chooses he should go, is found in Pindar,
AEschylus, Euripides, Plautus, Terence, etc. The passages are given in
Bochart, 'Hierozoicon.,' part 1. lib. it. Acts 39; in Kninoel, and in Bishop
Wordsworth. The passage in Eurip., 'Baach,' 1. 793, 794 (750, 751),
brings out the force of the proverb, viz. fruitless resistance to a superior power,
most distinctly: "Better to sacrifice to him, than, being mortal, by vainly raging
against God, to kick against the goads." Saul had better yield at once to the
constraining grace of God, and no longer do despite to the Spirit of grace.
It does not appear clearly that the proverb was used by the Hebrews.
Dr. Donaldson ('Christian Orthodoxy,' p. 293) affirms that" there is no Jewish
use of this proverbial expression." And this is borne out by Lightfoot, who
adduces the two passages, Deuteronomy 32:15 and I Samuel 2:9, as the
only evidences of the existence of such a proverb, together with a rabbinical
saying, "R. Bibai sat and taught, and R. Isaac Ben Cahna kicked against him"
('Exereit. on Acts,' 9:5). It is, therefore, a curious question how this classical
phrase came to be used here. Bishop Wordsworth says, "Even in heaven our
Lord did not disdain to use a proverb familiar to the heathen world." But,
perhaps, we may assume that such a proverb was substantially in use among
the Jews, though no distinct evidence of it has been preserved; and that Paul,
in rendering the Hebrew words of Jesus into Greek, made use of the language
of Euripides, with which he was familiar, in a case bearing a strong analogy
to his own, viz. the resistance of Pentheus to the claims of Bacchus. This is to
a certain
extent borne out by the use of the words θεομάχοι - thomachoi -
fighters against God and θεομαχῶμεν - theomachomen – we may be fighting
against God (ch. 5:39; 23:9 the latter of which is twice used in the 'Bacchae'
of Euripides though not common elsewhere. It is, however, found in
II Maccabees 7:19)
15
"And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he
said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest." The Lord for he, Authorized Version and Textus
Receptus.
16
"But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I
have appeared unto thee for
this
purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things
which
thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee;”
Arise for rise,
Authorized Version; to this end have I,
etc., for I have, etc.,
for this purpose, Authorized Version; appoint for make, Authorized Version;
the
things wherein thou hast seen me for
these things which thou hast seen,
Authorized Version and Textus Receptus; the things wherein for those things
in the which, Authorized Version. For to this end have I appeared, etc.
On comparing this statement with those in chps. 9:6 and 22:10, 14-15, it appears
that in this condensed account given before King Agrippa, Paul blends into one
message the words spoken to him when the Lord first appeared to him, and the
instruction subsequently given to him through Ananias, and the words spoken
to him in the trance (ch. 22:17-21). This may especially be inferred from ch.9:6,
and
again from comparing ch.
22:15 with this verse.
17
"Delivering thee from the people, and from
the Gentiles, unto whom now
I
send thee," Unto whom for unto whom note, Authorized Version. Unto [the
Gentiles]. These seem to be the words heard in the trance reported in ch. 22:21,
the sequel to which, as contained in v. 18, the apostle would then have recited,
had he not been cut short by the furious cries of the Jews.
18
"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." That
they may turn for and to turn them, Authorized Version and Textus Receptus;
remission for forgiveness, Authorized Version; an inheritance for inheritance,
Authorized
Version; that for which, Authorized Version; faith
in me for faith
that is in me, Authorized Version. To open their eyes (compare Luke 4:18 and
the
Septuagint of Isaiah
61:1; II
Corinthians 4:4-6, etc.). That they may turn
from darkness to light (compare Colossians 1:12-13; Ephesians 5:8; I Peter 2:9,
etc.). Remission of sins (see ch. 2:38; 3:19; 10:43).
Minister and Messenger (vs. 16-18)
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:
make thee a
minister and a witness.” Paul was to
be:
Ř
related to Christ as
His servant, and to be
Ř
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 that, 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!
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”
(v. 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:
Ř
to repeat the facts
and truths with which past experience and study
have made us familiar; and also
Ř
to unfold those later
and more mature views which our Lord will
be revealing to our open and inquiring minds.
“Delivering thee
from the (Jewish) people, and from the Gentiles”
(v.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.
Ř Spiritual illumination. Those
to whom he was to go would turn “from
darkness
to light,” their “eyes
having been opened.”
o
Having
been blind to the
existence, or to the nature and character,
or to the claims of God; or
o
blind to the worth of the human soul, or
o
to the
true end and aim of human life,
or
o
to
the solemnity of death and judgment; or
o
blind to the excellency of holy service,
§
to
the beauty of holiness,
§
to
the blessedness of consecration and self-denial;
§
to
understand, to rejoice in the truth, and
§
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.
Ř Deliverance. “From
the power of Satan unto God” (v. 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.”
(Romans 8:21) From a degrading bondage they are rescued,
that
they may rejoice in a holy, elevating freedom.
Ř
Forgiveness of
sins.
Ř
Sanctification — “that they may receive,” etc. (v.
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 (I Peter 1:16).
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
SAVIOUR, the cordial acceptance of Jesus Christ Himself as the
Divine Savior, the rightful
Lord, the all-sufficient Friend
of the human heart.
The
“To open their eyes,” etc.
Christ....having no hope...without God in
the world.” (Ephesians 2:12)
Ř
Darkness.
Ř
Intellectual.
Ř
Moral.
There are no exceptions. The light of our world and culture in
the
turned by sin into grosser DARKNESS and SUPERSTITION.
Ř
The rule of evil spirits.
o
The power
possessed by false teachers.
§
§
the Media;
§
music; rap; etc.
o
The dominion of
the senses.
§
sex
§
drugs
o
The reign of
fear.
§
“Men’s hearts
failing them for fear, and for
looking after
those things which are coming
on the earth; for
the powers of heaven shall
be shaken.” (Luke
21:28)
The Ascended Savior’s Description of His Own
Work among Men
(v. 18)
From the suddenly opened window of heaven into the suddenly
opened ear
of Paul, the ascended Jesus conveys in very brief the
description of the
work His gospel is to accomplish in the heart and life of
the saved. The
present description is fivefold. Each various representation
of Christ’s
work in the world invites our grateful, loving attention.
Each such fresh
representation throws fresh hues of beauty and of
loveliness upon our own
appreciation of the work. Jesus
says here that He sends Paul to do five
things for men, in His Name, by His warrant, through aid
of His power.
Christ, Divine
truth, the deep needs and grand
opportunities of their own
souls, they see the unimportant
instead of the all-important. This is not to
have the eye open, but shut.
DARKNESS TO ALL THE WEALTH OF LIGHT AND OF WHAT
LIGHT CAN SHOW. The power Jesus
gives He satisfies. The craving He
implants He provides for. The hope He awakens He will not deceive. The
eye He opens
shall not wander and grope and bemoan
darkness, dimness,
vague mist, but field after
field of higher light
and Diviner prospect shall
feed its rejoicing sense.
THRALDOM AND STARTLE THEM WITH RENEWED TITLE OF
SONS OF GOD, INSTEAD OF SLAVES OF SATAN.
PRESENT GIFT OF PARDON OF THE PAST. Of what a fearful load
will this at once relieve them!
How dreadful the outlook still is made,
whatever it might be, if
it is haunted by the visions of the past, nay, far
more, overtaken by the dead hand
of the past, and stricken down in every
attempt of its own hand, because
of the
overwhelming arrears due!
That
which might be the brightest
future is dashed by memories only sometimes,
but much more by memories that
come barbed with sternest actual pains
and with demands that cannot be
satisfied. (When God forgives, He
forgets! “....their sins and iniquities I will
remember no more.” Hebrews
10:17 – Thus we have no more
conscience of sins [ibid. v. 2] –
however
we do remember our sins and that
is good since the purpose of memory
of sins is to forbid us
repeating them again! CY – 2018)
NEW, A SPECIAL, A HIGHEST KIND OF TRAINING. The place is
found beyond a doubt here, as
truly as there can be, as there is a “heaven
on earth.” In its perfection it
is to be found, when years upon years have
rolled; ever till then, holding
out the thought of home, the haven of rest,
the heart of
perfect peace, the Church of ravishing worship, the
unimaginable bliss
of heaven, whatever that may be, and of
GOD HIMSELF! How
vast that contrast! What a change and growth
from the first to this fifth stage! Now first our eye needs to be opened,
then what will it be when each blessed one
may say, “As for me, I behold
thy face in
righteousness; I am satisfied, awake, with thy likeness?”
(Psalm 17:15)
“The Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me.”
(Psalm 138:8)
19
"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not
disobedient unto the heavenly
vision:" Wherefore for whereupon, Authorized Version. Disobedient (ἀπειθής
–
apeithaes - stubborn; disobedient); see Luke 1:17; Romans 1:30, etc. The turn
of the phrase is most skillful; as if he should say, "Can you blame me for obeying
such a heavenly message? How
could I act otherwise, being thus directed?"
Vision (ὀπτασία –optasia); Luke
1:22; 24:23;
II Corinthians 12:1. Found also
repeatedly in
the Septuagint of Daniel and Wisdom of Solomon (compare the
use of ὀπτανόμενος - optanomenos - being viewed; being seen -ch. 1:3).
Paul was divinely sent and
would be divinely cared for.
Christ’s Own Stress Laid on Faith in a
Personal Object (v. 18)
“And an inheritance among them that are sanctified,” etc. The utterances of
the ascended Savior to the man who was to be in a double
sense the great
first apostle of his religion to all the world cannot but
be regarded by us as
invested with the very fullest interest. The philosophy of
religion is simple
with Jesus; and He throws into clear prominence certain
things, which may
surely mark for us the prominence we should give them.
Notice:
CHRIST. “Faith, that
which centers in me.” So we may justly expound the
words of Christ. Jesus speaks
thus emphatically to protect against
mysticism, defeat, deviation.
Ř Faith in a living person can mean nothing
short of general trust in him
(unless
particular qualification be expressed, e.g. faith in a person as a
financier, etc.) and great trust in him, unless some
qualification of measure
be expressly
stated, as is never done to Christ. Faith
in Jesus Christ will
include,
therefore,
o
trust
in His teaching;
o
trust
in His example;
o
trust
in His loving, sympathetic guidance;
o
trust
in all that He says, in all that in His providence He does;
o
trust
in the worthiness of His service; as well as
o
trust
on the part of the soul’s deepest demands for Him, in His last
“power
to save.”
Ř The service or office of faith is here
suggested. It is not remarked on
here in its
elevating influence on the individual character, and in its present
points of
superiority over sight for such a nature as ours. But it is instanced
in its function
as the link of connection,
real, vital connection, between
Christ
and any man. It has, in
itself, elevating as are the conception and the
gradual
training inherent in it, no sufficient, no sovereign, certainly no
saving,
efficacy. It is nothing that is to be depended upon, of and in itself.
But
it leads to One, unites to One, keeps an open communication with
One,
and clings mightily to the end unto One, who is to be depended on,
with
all the heart, and mind, and strength, and soul.
Ř The great calm, peace, divinest
content and foretaste of heaven’s own
happiness that
are commanded by real trust should always be credited to
faith in
Christ. If these fail and when they fail, it is not that faith fails of its
office, or that
Christ fails of his goodness, but that men sever this golden
link awhile, or
let this golden conduit pitifully leak awhile.
RELATION TO SANCTIFICATION. It appears from this pronouncement
of Jesus that “faith that is in Him” is responsible for our sanctification.
There is no limitation to the
statement that sanctification depends on faith
in Jesus.
Ř It rises out of that faith or trust
already spoken of. Without the real and
living connection with Christ, there would be no entrance possible to the
knowledge
and the privileges which come with Him.
Ř It is fed the whole way along by the truth, the example, the guidance, the
sympathizing
love, of Jesus.
Ř
It
avails to take away that surest foe of all to sanctification, trust in self,
at one stroke,
but a stroke that must be felt life’s length.
Ř Up to the very last, it is that simplest, purest,
most depending trust of
the soul on
Jesus when it faces “the valley,”
and “the river,” and “the
shadow,” and “the unknown,”
which completes, so far as we can trace it at
all, the
sanctification of man. If at that last moment the bond of faith should
break, alas!
all would break. But in that last moment, what reason we have
to think that
there is One who makes its strength equal to all the strain
which by any
possibility could be put upon it! (“.....no
man is able to
pluck
them out of my hand.”
CHRIST AS THE WAY TO “THE INHERITANCE.” “The
inheritance,”
it distinctly appears, is that
of a
prepared place for a prepared people. The
preparation is one; it is
that of sanctification attained by faith only. The
way to “the
inheritance,” therefore, cannot be found, except by the paths of
faith, the “faith
that is in Christ.” And the review of
the whole would teach
us that it were well-nigh
impossible to summarize more forcibly and briefly
in one the offices of “faith
that is in Christ.” His own is the emphasis here
given to it. And He shows that
it runs like a golden cord through
THE WHOLE WORK OF
REDEMPTION!
The Heavenly Vision, a Sermon to the Young (v. 19)
When Paul was “apprehended of Christ Jesus” on his
way to
was yet a young man. He was still at the outset of his
career; his life was
still before him. When that heavenly vision came, and he
saw the Lord, he
himself and his whole life were absolutely changed. The
current which had
surged so swiftly in one line then turned and flowed
steadily and
uninterruptedly in the opposite direction. That vision from God
revolutionized, transformed his whole self and all his
plans and hopes.
What visions have we now, and what influence have they on
our hearts and
lives? We reply:
VISION FROM HEAVEN. We
do not expect the miraculous now. God
may, and probably does, make
known His will in ways that are outside and
above the ordinary and the
natural; but we have no right to reckon on
these. He does come to us by the illuminating influences of His
Holy Spirit,
and He thus elevates the mind,
awakens the soul, subdues the will, renews
the nature, transforms the life.
God visits us through various means, acts
upon us by many instruments,
wins us in different ways. The heavenly
vision is sure to come during
the days of youth, when the mind is more
open and the heart more
tender; “for of such is the
(Luke 18:16)
Ř It
may take the form of a vision of Jesus Christ — His
excellency and
claims. The young heart may see Him, as it had
never before, as One
who is
infinitely
worthy of trust, of love, of service, of submission.
Ř Or
it may take the form of a vision of human life — its seriousness and
responsibility.
The mind may awake to this great fact: having regarded
human life as
nothing better than a thing to be enjoyed, or as an
opportunity for
making money, or gaining a brief reputation, or attaining to
some social
position, it comes to see, in
the light of God’s revealing truth,
that
it may be something
immeasurably more and
higher — that it may
be
made a sacred
opportunity of spiritual culture, of holy usefulness, and of
Divine service.
Ř Or
it may take the form of a vision of the human soul — its greatness
and value. It may suddenly become conscious of the
fact that God has
created us for
Himself, that we may possess His likeness, live His life, and
share
His immortality;
that within the
humblest human frame resides a spirit
whose worth
the wealth of a planet will not weigh.
There are other occasions in the
course of human life when a decisive
choice is made; when it is
resolved what vocation shall be pursued, what
life-companion taken, what
country adopted for a home, etc.; but there is
no occasion which compares with
this in sacred interest, in lasting issues. It
may be even said that “on this
winged hour eternity is hung.” Obedience or
disobedience to the heavenly vision makes all the difference between
success and failure, between peace
and unrest of soul, between life and
death.
Ř
Obedience means:
o
becoming right
with God;
o
spending a life
in accordance with His will and in harmony
with our true
and deeper cravings;
o
a title to
everlasting joy in the future.
Ř
Disobedience means
the sad and dark opposites of these:
o
remaining under
God’s displeasure;
o
living a life at
variance with His purpose and the true end
of man;
o REJECTING THE OFFER OF eternal
life.
The
Make of a Heavenly Vision, and Its Use (v. 19)
These words are part of Paul’s own description of his
conversion. He has
been telling the fact, and explaining the manner and
circumstances of it. In
fewest words he has spoken of the blinding light from heaven
at midday,
but far above the brightness of a midday sun; of the voice
which he heard
when prostrate on the earth; of its summons to him to rise,
and to be ready
promptly to begin a career of activity and of danger
perhaps, alike
unparalleled. Then calling it altogether a “vision,”
and a “heavenly vision,”
he says, “I was not disobedient to it.” For three days he remained blind; for
three days, so complete was the mastery of mind over body,
he did neither
eat nor drink. They led
him by the hand to
and purpose concerning him were further unfolded to him by Ananias; and
there he found a grateful shelter awhile with Christ’s
disciples — those
very persons whom he had set out to discomfit and
persecute. Twenty-seven
years, or thereabout, have now passed away, and looking
back on
that time, Paul says — and the trial of those twenty-seven
years amply bear
him out — “Whereupon... I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision.” It
will be instructive to notice:
VISION.” The charm of
words often beguiles, sometimes misleads, and,
like distance, lends enchantment
to the view. A heavenly vision — must
not every one covet it?
Certainly every one would not covet this of Paul’s.
A “heavenly vision,” if
given, must it not be irresistible? Will it not be made
of fairy forms, of rainbow
colors, of angel movements, of seraphs music?
Poetry and dream, imagination
and the refinedness of inspiration, — these
will be the material and make of
it. But, no, it is not so; it was not so now.
A heavenly vision may be as
practical, of matter as hard, of manner as
unceremonious and unwelcome, as
the most ordinary reality of our
everyday vexed and harassed
life. In this, every one of us finds occasionally
the hard knocks of hard facts,
and so we may in a heavenly vision. And this
was the kind of which Paul here
speaks. The light was bright, but not with
fancy’s brightness, but with
blinding effect. For the rest, judge in one
moment the characteristics of the
heavenly vision that, beginning with
blinding, goes on by giving the
strong rider a heavy fall to the earth. No
dreamy whisperings succeed, nor
strains seraphic, but summons short and
sharp, with his name twice
repeated. The remonstrant and upbraiding
questions succeed, and fear and
trembling and unknown astonishment are
the result. This sort of vision,
whatever it may he called, is, according to
our general thought, not so much
of heavenly as of earthly things. Yet
these were the facts of Paul’s
vision, and equally fact is it that he terms it
heavenly. And here is our lesson, that the
warnings from heaven, and the
persuasions that
come from heaven, and the instructions that date from
heaven, may, while we stay here, savor and have to savor much
of the
material and the methods of
earth, so far as regards the instruments of
them. The heavenly vision shall
best justify its name often for you, when it
apprizes you experimentally, not
of the delicious sensations of angels, but
of the fear and
trembling and anguished amazement that pertain to sinful
hearts and
injured consciences. Paul was right;
for his vision did come from
heaven, and it pointed up to
heaven, and it led him back with it to heaven,
and an innumerable host of
others also. Hard fare brought the prodigal
back to himself and home to his
father; and it was so with Paul, severe and
unceremonious handling brought
Paul to himself and his Savior and his
lifework; and it may be so with
us, that hard blows and smarting wounds and
crowding cares may be the appointed
means of calling us to ourselves, our
God, and our home. So also when
these come to me, even me, me myself,
is it not the equivalent of the
name named, and sharply named twice, “Saul,
Saul”? We often individually
doubt our mercies, and fail to give God praise
for them; seldom do we fail to cry
out individually because of our pains, or
to murmur at God because of them.
returned for his most merciful,
but so to call it rough, usage in this
heavenly vision, was prompt attention, practical obedience. The kindest,
gentlest providences you may so
abuse that they turn into bitter, hard
experiences, and memories of
pain and shame. The hardest, sternest
providences may be so accepted,
so treated, that they become transmuted
into the brightest spots of
memory, the happiest realities of a painful life,
and the undoubted points of departure for a new and holier life. Of what
seem the unlikeliest materials,
it is possible to secure heavenly advantage
— by obedience to the convictions,
the thoughts, the suggestions that
come of the pain and darkness
and fearful care that were enrapt in them.
For what reason, however, does
Paul say, “I was ‘not disobedient,’“
instead of “I was obedient”?
Ř Perhaps he chooses his expression of real,
deep modesty before God.
“Disobedient,”
he thought to himself, “I will no longer be,” and that
thought
lingered still with him, though, as to being fully and adequately
obedient, “who
is sufficient for it?” The twenty-seven years that have now
sped away have
just done this for him, made him feel that to be perfectly
obedient will
need an energy and an unfalteringness never seen
below the
sun, except in the one Lord and Master Himself.
Ř Or was the mode of Paul’s language rather
due to the thought, perhaps
all but
unconsciously felt, that disobedience was the broad road and wide
gate, whereat
the many go in, the million to one and he had been long of
the number? But
Paul would say, “Being ‘by
the grace of God what I am,’
I would no
longer be disobedient, nor ‘walk in their counsel.’ Use we then
our
providences, though dark and stern, and let us not be unfaithful to their
suggestions. It
will be a great step towards baulking the fruitfulness of evil,
and towards
producing an abundant fruitfulness of good. To be not
disobedient may
soon usher in the ambition and the joys of a real and
hearty
obedience. The word may tremble on human lip, to say, “I have
been obedient,”
but with a good conscience before man and God, Paul
prefers to say,
“I
was not disobedient.”
20
"But shewed first unto them of Damascus,
and at Jerusalem, and throughout
all
the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent
and
turn
to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Declared
for showed,
Authorized
Version; both to them of Damascus first for first unto them of Damascus,
Authorized
Version and Textus Receptus; country for
coasts, Authorized Version;
also
for then,
Authorized Version; doing for and
do, Authorized Version; worthy
of
for meet for, Authorized Version. Them
of Damascus first, etc. He enumerates
his
evangelical labors in the order in which they took place: at Damascus first, as
related
in ch.
9:19-22; then at Jerusalem, as in ibid.
vs.
26-29; and then those on
a
larger and wider scale, among the Jews of Palestine and the heathen in all the
countries
which he visited. Throughout all the country of Judaea. This does
not
allude to any preaching in the land of Judaea at the time of his first visit to
Jerusalem
(ch.
9:26), because he says in Galatians
1:22, that at that time, viz.
before
he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, he was still "unknown by
face
unto the Churches of Judaea." But he had
opportunities later of preaching
in
Judaea. For instance, the language of ch.11:29
suggests that such an opportunity
may
have arisen when Paul and Barnabas carried up the alms of the Christians at
Antioch
"unto the brethren that dwelt in
Judaea." Another opportunity he
manifestly
had when he passed with Barnabas through Phoenicia and Samaria to
Jerusalem,
as related in ch.
15:3. Another, when he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
as
related in ch.
18:22. Again, there was room for working among the Jews in
Palestine
while he was staying at Caesarea "many
days," and journeying to
Jerusalem,
as we read in ch.
21:10, 15. So that there is no contradiction whatever
between
the statement in this verse and that in Galatians
1:22. The clauses in this
The
Three great themes are here announced by Paul. They stand
in close
relation with one another. The chain of truth and of
highest duty is short,
of three links, but most strong and most useful. The
apostle, describing his
own great work as the first evangelist to the wide world,
describes for all
time and for all place the work of the evangelist. However
far beyond
religion may go, may be taught, may develop itself to an
opening eye, a
quickened imagination, a deepening heart, and an inspired
outlook, it
begins here, and rests on these three things. The preacher
of Christ to
humanity must preach:
Ř
Conviction of
sin.
Ř
Deep sorrow for
sin.
Ř
Confession of
sin.
doubt, a crisis in the
inner life, in the very man himself, called fitly the
turning to God.
Let it be produced as it may; let it be
concealed or
manifest as it may; let it be
short and sharp and very defined to day and
hour, or the reverse; yet this
is a fact in the moral spiritual history of one
called by Christ and obeying that
call. So much so that the call itself
shall in
part be worded thus: “Turn;”
“Turn to God;” “Turn ye, turn ye; why will
ye die?” The reversal of the old life, old character, old principle
of action,
cannot be more plainly asserted as a necessity. (Ezekiel 33:11)
Christ will not allow
profession, will not accept mysticism, does not
acknowledge vague dreaming, nor
admit the idler.
Ř
Change from the old,
Ř
honest departure from
the past, and
Ř
reality of a new future,
are His watchwords.
21
"For these causes the Jews caught me in the
temple, and went about to kill me."
This cause for these causes, Authorized Version; seized for caught, Authorized
Version; essayed for went about, Authorized Version. For
this cause. Here again
is a most telling statement. "I have spent my life in
trying to persuade men to
repent and turn to God, and for doing so the Jews seek to
kill me. Can this be right?
Will not you, O King Agrippa, protect me from such an unjust
requital?" To kill me;
διαχειρίσασθαι - diacheirisasthai -
to lay hands on me, here and in ch. 5:30 only in
the New Testament; not in the Septuagint, but in Polybius, and in Hippocrates and
Galen, of surgical operations.
22 "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing
both to small and
great, saying none other things than those which the prophets
and Moses did say
should come:" The help that is
from God for help of God,
Authorized Version; stand for continue, Authorized Version;
testifying for witnessing,
Authorized Version; nothing but what for none other things
than those which,
Authorized Version. Help, etc.;
ἐπικουρία - epikouria – help;
of assistance, here
only and in Wisdom of Solomon 13:18, still
of Divine help; in medical writers
frequently, of aid from medicine and physicians; common also
in classical writers,
of auxiliary forces. It is properly spoken of help and
allies from without (Bengel).
I stand; i.e. I continue unmoved, steadfast, and, by God's
help, not crushed by my
enemies. Testifying. The natural rendering of the Received Text μαρτυρόμενος –
marturomenos - witnessing. The Textus Receptus μαρτυρούμενος – marturoumenos
- followed by ὑπὸ - hupo - would mean "borne witness to," "approved," as in ch. 6:3;
10:22,
etc., and so Meyer understands it here. But μαρτυρύμενος makes much better
sense, and is much better supported by manuscript authority.
It is in close agreement
with ch. 9:15 and 22:15, that Paul should
thus "testify" to small and
great.
23 "That Christ should suffer, and that
He should be the first that should rise
from the dead, and
should shew light unto the people, and to the
Gentiles."
How that the Christ
must for that Christ should,
Authorized Version; how that He
first by the
resurrection of the dead should proclaim for that he should be the first
that should rise from
the dead, and should show, Authorized Version; both to
for unto, Authorized Version and Textus Receptus. How that (εἰ - ei - that); see v. 8,
note. Must suffer; παθητός - pathaetos - suffering only here and in profane Greek
writers. The exact meaning of παθητός is "liable to suffering," just as θνητος –
thnaetos (from θνήσκω - thnaesko – die; be dead; means "liable to death," i.e.
mortal. But just as θνητός in use comes to mean "one who must die," so παθητός
means "one who
must suffer;" and so we read in Luke 24:26, Οὐχὶ ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν
Ξριστὸν καὶ εἰσελθεῖν
εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὑτοῦ
- Ouchi edei pathein ton Spiston kai
eiselthein eis taen doxan hautou - "Ought not Christ to have suffered," etc.?
And so again in Luke 24:46 (Textus Receptus), Ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν Ξριστὸν καὶ
ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν - Edei pathein ton Spiston
kai anastaenai ek nekron –
It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead, where the turn of
thought is exactly the same as here. The Vulgate renders it by passibilis.
The Fathers (Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr) contrast the state of Christ
in glory with His state in the flesh by the words ἀπαθής – apathaes "impassible
and παθητός – pathaetos - passible. That
He first by the resurrection of the dead
should proclaim, etc. Most commentators, from Chrysostom downwards, connect
the first with the resurrection. "First from the resurrection," equal to πρωτότοκος
ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν - prototokos ek ton nekron – firstborn out of the dead ones
(Colossians 1:18). As Meyer truly says, "The chief stress of this sentence lies
on πρῶτος ἐξ ἀναστάσεως - protos ex anastaseos – first one out of resurrection.
The Authorized Version gives the sense by a periphrasis; only it must be well
understood that it was especially by
being the first to rise, and so to bring life
and immortality to light, that Christ showed light to the people. (II Timothy
1:10) The words may, of course, be construed as the Revised Version does,
but such a rendering is not in accordance with the spirit of the passage or the
analogy of other passages. CHRIST
WAS THE FIRST TO RISE AND HE
WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THEM THAT ARE HIS! But it is not true to say
that He was the first to give light to Jews and Gentiles, and will be followed by
others doing the same. (For the sentiment, compare Luke 2:32.) Note on the
whole the enormous stress laid by Paul on the fulfillment of prophecy as a
proof of the truth of the gospel, following therein our Lord Himself
The Penalty and the Resources of a Devoted
Life (vs. 20-23)
There is no trace of egotism, in the offensive sense of the
word, in this
simple sketch of the apostle’s course. He is simply telling
the truth
concerning himself out of a pure heart. But in so doing he
gives us the
picture of:
Ř
He began at the
earliest possible time to carry out the Master’s will —
“showed first unto
them of
Ř
He labored in the most
difficult and dangerous sphere — “and at
Ř
He went wherever the
guiding finger pointed — “throughout all the
coasts of
Ř
He was not afraid of
those who were high not disregardful of
those
who were low “witnessing both to small and great” (v. 22).
Ř
He preached everywhere
unpalatable but indispensable truth — “ that
they should repent…
and do works meet for repentance” (v.
20).
Ř
He was undeterred by
any obstacles from continuing in his career —
“I continue unto
this day” (v. 22).
We are not all charged by our
Master to do the kind of work for which Paul
was His “chosen vessel;” but we are all called upon to devote our
powers
to His holy service, our lives
to His praise and glory; and it behooves us,
as it became him, to begin
early, to accept whatever duty the Lord may lay
upon us, to shrink from no
service because it seems uninviting or perilous
to be thorough in all we do for
Him, and to persist through good and evil
report even to the end, until He
shall take the weapon from out’ hand.
caught me,” etc. (v. 21). Paul’s faithful and fearless devotedness to
the
will and the cause of Jesus
Christ led him into the utmost danger, and
caused him the severest losses
and trials. The less of consecration the
less
of persecution; the more of the one the more of the other. So, in some
degree, now. “Yea, and all that wilt live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution” (II Timothy 3:12). All are not expected to face the same
trials. The apostle had his own
difficulties to surmount and dangers to
front. The missionary has his;
the minister has his; the reformer has his. The
Christian man in everyday life
has his own penalties of devotedness to pay.
Enthusiastic
zeal, perfect purity, unswerving truthfulness, incorruptible
fidelity, — these qualities, and
such as these, cannot be continually
manifested without calling out and calling down the hostility,
condemnation,
and opposition of the world. If we
take not up the cross
thus and follow Christ, we are “not
worthy of Him.”
Ř The
help to be had of God: “having
obtained help of God” (v. 22).
Christ appeared
to him at
him by special
visitations. All along his path he had the upholding hand
of the Almighty about him.
Ř Consciousness of integrity. There was no ground for this hatred of
him,
this relentless
persecution. He was not really the renegade his enemies took
him for. His
conduct could be fully justified by their own authorities; he
had been saying
“none
other things than these,” etc. (vs. 22-23). He had
a conscience
void of offence toward man as well as toward God; he was as
guiltless
before his own countrymen as he was before Caesar. Here we
have two
sources of strength under those persecutions which are the
inevitable
outcome of our fidelity.
o
Divine
sustenance:
§
the guidance of the heavenly Father,
§
the
watchful care of the Divine Savior, and
§
the
comfort of the Holy Ghost.
o
Consciousness of rectitude — the feeling that we are
saying and
doing “none other things” than the Word of God
will justify,
and than those who abuse and injure us would
themselves
approve if they would only judge us with an open
and impartial mind.
A Good Confession (vs. 22-23)
If Festus and Agrippa had known half of what Paul had been
passing
through since his journey to
would well understand why he interposes the acknowledgment,
so full of
dependence and of humble gratitude, “Therefore having obtained help
of
God, I continue unto this day” Paul takes credit to himself for neither his
work, nor suffering, nor safety. These are all due to his
sovereign “Leader”
and “Commander” and Protector. But he makes a good confession indeed,
one, if true — and none deny its truth — most worthy of
imitation, of all
and every one who would in any measure be a follower in his
work. He
claims justly, and not boastfully, but for manifestly other
reason, that he
has maintained:
Paul wishes to lay stress on
this, that he had been to “the
Law and the
testimony and the
prophets;” and had been true to them;
had not gone
beside nor beyond them, and had
not fallen short of them, as his people
and opponents were, in fact, guilty
of doing.
were the four grand truths imbedded in the Law, enshrined in the
testimony, and many a time
bursting out like hope’s own light from the
prophets. These were:
Ř
the death,
Ř
the resurrection, of
Christ;
Ř
the “great
Light” He would be to “His people,”
to all the world.
GOD.” In a lower
sense, no doubt, but in a very true sense, Paul had done
and suffered the things that
none other could, “save God were
with him.”
Paul’s Message Compared with Prophecy (vs.
22-23)
Reference to and support from Holy
Scripture was a characteristic feature
of the apostle’s public teachings and preachings.
To understand the
importance of this feature of his work we should take into
consideration
not only the general views entertained of Scripture as the
revealed and
authoritative
Word of God, but also, and more
particularly, the sentiment
concerning Scripture cherished by pious Jews. It is almost
impossible to
exaggerate in speaking of their reverence for it. It was their final court of
appeal. It was the voice of their God to them. It was the ground
of their
hope that Messiah, the Deliverer and Prince, would come. It may also be
noticed that they much more readily found Messianic
references in
prophecy and promise than we can do; and we find it
difficult to see the
points which even the New Testament writers make, probably
because our
characteristic logical and critical qualities of mind
differ so materially from
the figurative and imaginative characteristics of the
Eastern mind. How
Paul used appeals to Scripture, and especially Scripture
prophecy, may be
illustrated from his speech at
from his Epistles. Further illustration of the method, as peculiar
to the
apostles and Christian teachers, may be found in Peter’s
speech at
Pentecost, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. In our text
Moses is mentioned
with the prophets, because there were some who placed the
Pentateuch in
a higher rank than the rest of the Old Testament
Scriptures. Paul gives
the leading points of his preaching, and affirms, what he
would be prepared
quite fully to illustrate and to prove, that these points
are not really new,
but have been all foreshadowed and declared by Jehovah’s
prophets. He
takes three topics.
1. Messiah was to suffer.
2. Messiah was to rise from the dead.
3. Messiah was to be the Light of life to both Jew and
Gentile.
great body of the Jews had fixed
their thoughts only on the prophetic
visions of the glories of the
Messiah’s kingdom. Even the disciples of Jesus
were slow to receive any other
thought than that of conquest and triumph.
It was not until they were led,
after the Crucifixion and the Resurrection,
into our Lord’s own school of
prophetic interpretation, and l aught to
recognize the under-current of
types and prophecies that pointed to A
RIGHTEOUS
SUFFERER as well as A RIGHTEOUS KING that they
were able to receive the truth.”
Show:
Ř the prophetic figure of a suffering
Messiah from Psalm 22. and Isaiah
53, with
references to passages in Jeremiah and Lamentations; and:
Ř point out how precisely the historical
facts of our Lord’s sufferings fit
into the
preparatory prophecy.
prophecies on this point from Psalm
16:10; 30:3; 41:10; 118:7;
Hosea 6:2, etc. Show how the
fact of His resurrection answers to the
prophecy. Aid may be found in Peter’s
speeches recorded in Acts 2.
and 3.
AND GENTILE. This had
been one of Paul’s strongest points, and he
had abundant Old Testament
references to show that Messiah’s mission
was not limited to Jews. Refer
in illustration to Psalm 45.; Isaiah 11:10;
42:1, etc. Show that the apostle
could direct attention to the fact that God
had opened the door of faith to
the Gentiles by the vision given to Peter
at Joppa, and the admission of
Cornelius to the Church. He could also
plead that in the Gentile cities
God had attended the preaching of His
gospel with the
power of the Holy Ghost, and Churches
among the
Gentiles had been founded on the
faith of Christ. So prophecy had been
fulfilled; it was satisfied in Jesus of
rose again for our justification, and is preached in all
the world as the
ALL-SUFFICIENT SAVIOR!
24 "And as he thus spake
for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul,
thou art beside
thyself; much learning doth make thee mad." Made
his
defense for spake for himself,
Authorized Version,
(ἀπολογουμένου –
apologoumenou - defending as v. 2); saith for said, Authorized Version;
mad for beside thyself, Authorized Version; thy much for much, Authorized
Version; turn thee to
madness for make thee mad,
Authorized Version.
With a loud voice. Another detail, betraying the eyewitness of
the scene described.
Thou art mad (μαίνῃ - mainae – you
are being mad); ch. 12:15; John 10:20;
I Corinthians 14:23. Much learning (τὰ πολλά γράμματα – ta polla grammata –
the much writings; scripture). So John 7:15, "How knoweth this man letters
(γράμματα)?"
is equivalent to Whence hath this man this wisdom? (Matthew 13:54).
And ἀγράμματος
- agrammatos - in ch. 4:13
is "unlearned." The excited
interruption
by Festus shows that he was unable to
accept the truths enunciated by the apostle.
The ideas of fulfilled prophecy, and of the resurrection of
the dead, and of a
crucified Jew giving light to the great Roman world, were “foolishness
unto him,"
(I Corinthians 1:23) because he
lacked spiritual discernment.
He thought the
apostle's glowing words must be the outcome of a disordered
mind. Turn thee
to madness (εἰς μανίαν περιτρέπει - eis manian peritrepei – into madness is
deranging). The
word μανία - mania - mania occurs
only here in the New Testament.
But it is the technical name in medical writers for the
disease of μανία,
and is also
common in classical writers. The verb for "doth turn" (περιτρέπει) is also peculiar
to Luke, being found
only in this place. It is used by Plato, but specially by medical
writers, as is also the substantive formed from it, περιτροπή - peritropae - spoken
of the "turn"
taken by a disease, and the simple verb τρέπει and τρέπεται: e.g.
ἔτρεψε γνώμην
ἐς μανίην: ἐς σκυθρωππὸν ἡ μανίη
τρέπεται: τοῖς μαινομένοισι
ἄλλοτε μὲν ἐς ὀῤγὴν
ἄλλοτε δὲ ἐς θυμηδίαν (mirth) ἡγνώμη τρέπεται, etc.
(Hobart, p. 468).
25 "But he said, I am not mad,
most noble Festus; but speak forth the words
of truth and soberness." Paul saith for he said, Authorized Version and Textus
Receptus; excellent for noble, Authorized Version; words for the words, Authorized
Version. Most excellent (κράτιστε - kratiste – most mighty). It appears to be the
proper title to give the procurator (see ch. 23:26; 24:3). Luke also applies it to
Theophilus
(Luke 1:3). In classical
Greek οἱ κράτιστοι - hoi kratistoi - are
the
aristocracy. Soberness (σωφροσύνη - sophrosunae – sanity; sound or sober
mindedness; just the opposite of the μανία of which he was accused. See the use
of σωφρονοῦντα - sophronounta – being sane (Mark 5:15; Luke 8:35;
II Corinthians 5:13, etc.), and of σωφρονίζειν, σωφρωνισμός, σώφρων, etc.
So also in Plato, σωφρωσύνη is opposed to μανία.
26 "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." Unto for before, Authorized Version;
is hidden for are hidden, Authorized Version; this hath not been for this thing
was not, Authorized Version. For the king, etc. Something in Agrippa's manner
showed Paul that he was not unaffected by what he had heard. And so with his
usual quickness and tact he appeals to him to confirm the "words of truth and
soberness"
which he had just addressed to the skeptical Festus. I speak freely.
He was indeed a prisoner and in chains, as he so touchingly said (in v. 29), but
the word of God in his mouth was not bound. Παρρησιαζόμενος –
Parraesiazomenos – being bold (see ch. 9:27; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; and
the frequent use of παρρησία – parraesia – boldness;
confidence).
The Apology (vs. 1-26)
We are struck with a contrast between the conduct of our
Lord when He
stood before the bar of Caiaphas
and of Pontius Pilate, and that of Paul
when he was brought before Festus and Agrippa. It is
written of Jesus,
when the Jews accused Him before Caiaphas,
that “He
held His peace.”
(Mark 14:61) And
again, as He stood before Pontius Pilate the governor, when
He was accused of the chief priests and elders, that He
answered nothing. And
even when Pilate himself appealed to Him, He gave him no
answer, not even to
one word; but, like a lamb dumb before the shearer, opened not His month.
Paul, on the contrary, when his enemies launched vehement
accusations
against him, stood boldly on his defense. With infinite
wisdom, eloquence,
and spirit, he rebutted their charges, and asserted his
innocence of them.
Both before the Sanhedrim and before Felix, as well as
before Festus and
Agrippa, he maintained his own cause with consummate skill
and dignity;
not cowed by their violence, nor losing his temper in
meeting their attack;
but confronting them with the
boldness of a pure conscience, and with the
energy of an invincible courage. Can we assign any reason for this
remarkable difference between the conduct of the Master and
the servant
under such similar circumstances? It is, of course,
possible that the patience
and silence of Jesus was the result of that conscious
innocence and perfect
sinlessness which belonged
to the Son of man alone, and could not be
shared by even the holiest of His servants. As He would not
allow His
servants to draw the sword in His defense, so neither would
He speak a
word to vindicate His innocence and uphold His cause. It may have been
part of His
Divine mission of suffering to be absolutely passive in receiving
injuries by
word, as He was in enduring the shame and agony of the cross.
Unresisted slander, unresented
blasphemies, undenied accusations, may
have been as truly parts of the Passion, as the spitting,
and the smiting on
the cheek, and the crown of thorns, and the piercing of
the hands and feet
were. His answer, His
apology, His acquittal, were to be the resurrection
from the dead; and, awaiting that apology at the hands of
His Father, silent
endurance was to be His part. The difference between His sinlessness as the
Son and the inferior goodness of the apostle mixed with
sin, and between
the vindication of the Son to be proclaimed by the
resurrection and the
vindication of the apostle to be effected by ordinary means,
may be one
ground of the difference, which we are considering. But
there is another
obvious difference between the two cases. Christ must suffer.
According
to
the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, Jesus was to lay down
His life as a
sacrifice for sin. And He was willing to do so. His own will was
one with the Father’s will, that thus it should be. As,
therefore, He would
not pray to His Father to send Him twelve legions of
angels, to free Him
from His enemies, so neither would He resist His
condemnation by assertions
or proofs of His sinless purity. He was silent before His
unjust judges, as He
bore His cross, as He stretched out His hands upon it, as
finally He bowed
the head and gave up the ghost. It was otherwise with Paul. He had no
life to give for the world’s sins, nor was he yet to die at
all. He had more
years to run in his Lord’s service, nor did he know when his
time would
come. He must live and work
awhile for the souls of Jews and Gentiles,
and must leave no stone unturned to exhibit his integrity
before mankind.
Apart from the natural feelings of the man, it was his duty
to repel those
charges which would hinder him in his work. Hence his noble apology. A
free confession of his errors and his faults; a lofty
assertion of the integrity
of his course; a lucid narrative of his wondrous life; a
bold confession of
the change in his soul; a holy boast of his faith in
Jesus and the works
which were its fruit; a pregnant proclamation of Christ’s
gospel in the ears
of his accusers and judges; and a fervent appeal to
Festus and Agrippa,
such as an archangel might address to the sons of men from
the heights of
heaven, so grand is its superiority; — these make up that
apology which
has a moving eloquence in it as fresh today as two thousand
years ago;
an apology which gives us a portraiture of the apologist
well calculated to
rivet our affection to him, and to command our admiration
of a character
to which, in the whole range of secular and sacred history,
we can scarcely
find quidquam simile aut secundum, worthy to be
placed by its side as a
rival in Christian heroism.
An Unwilling Contribution to the Truth (vs. 24-26)
The phenomena presented by Festus when, in
struggling to insult the truth,
he strengthens the body of testimony to it, are to be
noticed. They are
simply as follows:
ADVOCATE. How many a
time gospel truth has been decried because of
the signs of ignorance in
its advocates! The enemies of the gospel of
almost all kinds love learning,
would appraise it highly, and times without
number have professed that this
is their desire. But now it is all the contrary.
ENTHUSIASM IN THE ADVOCATE OF THE TRUTH OF THE
GOSPEL.
WITH SUCH SIGNS,
SAID FROM THE SEAT OF AUTHORITY.
HUGEST ERROR.
PLACE TO FIRM THOUGH RESPECTFUL CONTRADICTION OF
THE PRISONER. The
theory of the “madness” of Paul — not a whisper is
heard of it again.
27
"King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?
I know that thou believest.
28 "Then
Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
And for then, Authorized Version; with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make
me a Christian for almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, Authorized Version.
With but little persuasion (ἐν ὀλίγῳ κ.τ.λ. - en oligo k.t.l. – in few; brief; etc). This
saying of Agrippa's is obscure and variously explained. The Authorized Version,
following Chrysostom, Beza, Luther, etc., takes ἐν ὀλίγῳ to mean "within a little"
or "almost," like the Hebrew כִּמְעַט, which is very suitable to the context. The
corresponding ἐν πόλλῳ - enpollo - in a long time, or, as otherwise read,
ἐν μεγάλῳ
-
en megalo – would then mean, as in the Authorized Version, "altogether," and the
sense of the whole passage is striking and appropriate. But there is some difficulty
in getting this meaning out of the words. The natural way of expressing it would be
παρ ὀλίγον – par oligon, or ὀλίγου - oligou, or ὀλίγον δεῖ - oligon dei. Hence many
other commentators take ἐν ὀλίγῳ to mean "in a short time," and the sense to
be either
"you are making short work of my conversion: you are persuading me to become
a Christian as suddenly as you yourself did;" with a corresponding sense for
ἐν πόλλῳ,
"in a long time," i.e.
whether it takes a short or a long time, I pray God
you may become a Christian like myself;" or, "you are soon persuading me," you
will soon persuade me if you go on any longer in this strain. Others, again, preferring
the reading ἐν μεγάλῳ
in v. 29, take ἐν ὀλίγῳ
to mean "with little trouble,"
or "with
few words," as Ephesians 3:5 (understanding λόγῳ - logo - or πόνῳ - pono - ), "lightly"
(Alford), and then the opposite ἐν μεγάλῳ would mean "with much trouble," "with
many words," i.e. "with difficulty." But this is rather a flat rendering. Another
difference of opinion is whether the words of Agrippa are to be taken ironically,
or sarcastically, or jestingly, or whether they are to be taken seriously, as the
words of a man shaken in his convictions and seriously impressed by what he
had heard. The whole turn of the narrative seems to favor the latter view. Another
view, started by Chrysostom, is that Agrippa used the words in one sense, and
Paul (mistakenly or advisedly) took them in another. Another possible explanation
is that ἐν ὀλίγῳ is here used in the sense in which Thucydides employs the phrase
(ii. 86 and Ephesians 4:26), Τὴν ἐν ὀλίγῳ
ναυμάχιαν
- Taen en oligo naumachian
and Ἐν ὀλίγῳ
στρατοπεδευομένος - En oligo stratopedeuomenos
- , viz. "in a
narrow place;" and that Agrippa meant to say, "By your appeal to the prophets
you press me hard; you have got me into a corner. I am in a στενοχωρία –
stenochoria - a narrow room; I hardly know how to get out of it." The ἐν μεγάλῳ
would then mean a "large room," a εὐρυχωρία - euruchoria – broad (Psalm 30:8).
This would suppose ἐν ὀλίγῳ and ἐν μεγάλῳ to have become proverbial phrases.
ALMOST PERSUADED? It is an awful spiritual danger to turn away from
AN OPEN DOOR TO SALVATION!
The Christian’s Desire (vs. 24-28)
The point of deepest interest in this scene is Paul’s reply
to Agrippa. There
the nobility of the apostle is conspicuously present. But
it is worth while to
glance, first, at:
magnitude; it looks at the
wisdom of God and mistakes it for madness. So
it judged incarnate wisdom (John
10:30). So we are to expect it will
judge us; for “the
things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the natural
man” (I Corinthians 2:14), whether he be Greek (ibid. 1:23) or Roman (text).
That the whole
Gentile world should be redeemed from sin and led by
repentance into the
this, which is
the wisdom of God, deep and Divine, seemed
to the proud
man of the world
nothing better than insanity itself. Enlightened by His
Spirit, we detect in this the
very essence of Divine wisdom. If the eternal
Father, looking down upon us,
sees His own wise procedure mistaken
for and spoken of as madness,
may we not be content that our human
schemes and plans should
sometimes receive the faint approval, or even
the direct condemnation, of our
fellowmen?
abashed by the sudden outbreak
of Festus, nor did he give way to
unsuitable and injudicious
resentment. He replied with calmness and dignity
to the insulting charge of his
Roman judge (v. 25). When assailed in this
way — when charged with folly,
error, fanaticism, or even madness — the
best thing we can do is to bear
ourselves calmly, retaining mental and
moral equability. This is the
best way to disprove the allegations that are
made.
Ř First let us be well assured of our
position, not taking our ground until
we have made
all necessary inquiries and have every possible guarantee
that we are on
the side of “truth and soberness;” and then
Ř Let us refuse to be disconcerted by abuse,
oppose quiet dignity to angry
crimination,
and show a conscious rectitude which is far superior to
violence,
whether of word or deed.
Paul turned appealingly from Festus
to Agrippa. Some points in common
there must be, he felt, between
himself and his royal countryman (vs. 26-27).
The king put off the prisoner
with a courtly sarcasm (v. 28); but the
apostle was not thus to be
silenced. In noble language and with touching
allusion to the fetters he wore,
he expressed the earnest wish that, whether
with ease or with difficulty,
not only the king himself, but all who heard
him, might be “such
as he was.” A pure and passionate desire filled his soul
that all whom he could anywise
affect might be elevated and blessed by
that ennobling truth which the
risen Savior had revealed to him. This holy
earnestness of his may remind
us:
Ř That the truth of the gospel is that which
can be indefinitely extended
without making
any man the poorer. If a man divides his gold among the
poor, be loses
it himself, but he who imparts heavenly wisdom, Christian
influence,
gains as he gives.
Ř That it is the tendency of Christian
truth to make its possessor desire to
extend
it. The contemplation
of a God of love, the study of the life and
spirit of the
self-sacrificing Savior, the purity of the joy which it inspires
in the human
heart, — these are fitted
to produce in the soul a
holy
yearning
to extend to others the blessedness we enjoy.
Ř That it becomes us to put forth all our
talents to diffuse the knowledge
and to spread
the
teach
all nations....” (Matthew
28:19)The thought of millions of
souls starving
that might feed on the bread of life should animate us
with keen
desire and send us with elastic step in the path of deliverance
and of life.
The real root of unbelief is personal and
moral.
29 "And Paul said, I would to God, that not
only thou, but also all that hear
me this day, were
both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
Whether with little or with much for both almost, and altogether, Authorized
Version; might become for were, Authorized Version. (the order of the words
is also changed). I would to God; literally, I would pray to God. It is not very
different from the ηὐχόμην - aeuchomaen – I wished of Romans 9:3. All
acknowledge the extreme beauty and taste of this reply, combining the firmness
of the martyr with the courtesy of the gentleman. "Loquitur Paulus ex sensu
suae beatitudinis, cum amore latissimo" (Bengel).
A Mournful “Almost,” on a Light Lip (vs.
28-29)
If these words of Agrippa were spoken satirically, as some
think, or were
intended to express even the essence of satire, yet after
all, this would
make very little difference to the standpoint from which we
consider them.
It would make a great difference indeed to Agrippa himself,
but would
scarcely diminish aught from the many lessons we may gather
from them.
Agrippa, too, like Festus, it would appear, felt compelled
to make some
pronouncement from the chair of authority, but again
(notable to observe),
the last word lay with Paul. And “a word” indeed it was!
This episode,
consisting of Agrippa’s behavior on this occasion, may be
justly viewed in
the following lights. It illustrates:
WONDERFULLY SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLES. Many of these
obstacles are most easily
imagined. But take this one, as typical of the rest,
that from Agrippa, being who he
was, where he was, and closely
surrounded by the company in
which he was, should be wrung, and yet
without any appearance of its
being wrung, such a confession! Supposing
that the language of Agrippa
does not mean to own to the experience of
any deep emotion or of any
powerful impression produced upon him, still
that Agrippa can put these
words, spiced with taunting, as they then were,
upon his lips, was indicative of
something very different from scouting and
scorning (as Festus would have
done) the most distant approach to the
thought.
For the practical issue of all
was that Agrippa remained himself. He did not
come over to Paul or to Paul’s
Master. He did remain with Festus, himself
and his sins both “secret” and
“presumptuous.”
sinful nature won, either at the
point of “almost “ — that so well-known
“almost” of conviction, inborn,
but for all that still-born! — or at the point
of a very trifling easy gibe
made to do duty for the hour, nay, it was only
the moment. Paul has just, undenied, claimed Agrippa, as versed both in
Law and in fact. Agrippa cannot,
does not, deny it. But that his knowledge
may seem to make him look a
little less small in the eyes of Festus and the
court around, at what he cannot
deny, he can indulge in a fling — the fling
that of a man who says, “You’ll
find it no so easy matter to make me real,
true, sincere, and ready to give
in to what nevertheless I cannot deny.”
Paul must have thought now of
the heart that is in man, “We are not
ignorant of its devices.” (II Corinthians 2:11)
GOSPEL TRUTH HOLDS EVEN WHEN MOST OPPRESSED. For the
closing language of Paul — so
pitying, so meek, so Savior-like, so
yearning — was indeed a triumph
of God’s grace and of goodness in man.
At the unlikeliest moment the
lips of Paul breathe out what sounds like
nothing else so much as a
parting benediction, a forgiving prayer, an
irresistible argument of most
pathetic affection. He would pour oil on the
troubled waters, he would reduce
the storm to a Divine calm, he would
cover up all a sinful, shameful,
humiliating past with the love and
forgivingness and hope that must
in a moment overspread all the scene, if
only Agrippa were such in the
salvation of Jesus as he was, less his chains.
Why, there was no comparison for
one moment then between the real glory
of Paul and the varnished
brilliance of Agrippa. So God secures His own.
So Jesus is mindful of His true
servants. So the Spirit puts wisdom into the
heart and words into the lips of
those faithful to His inspiration. And the
insulted prisoner dispenses
reward and punishment to his judges.
Both Almost, and Altogether
(v. 29)
By comparing the translation of v. 28 in the Revised
Version, it will be
seen that the traditional associations of the words cannot
be maintained,
and that Agrippa had other thoughts than those which are
usually
supposed. But it is certain that Paul made use of Agrippa’s
words to
point a persuasion, and recognized the possibility of the
state which may be
described as “almost a
Christian.” And so we are still
justified in basing a
homily on the condition of the “almost persuaded” upon
this passage. The
subject may be pleasantly introduced by a description of
the pompous
scene. Agrippa prided himself upon his semi-royalty, and so
Festus
arranged for as much of state grandeur as possible. Paul
was brought
chained to his soldier-guard, and spoke with but one hand
free. His fervor
and eloquence moved Agrippa more
than he cared to admit even to
himself. He
dreaded any further pressure, and therefore tried to turn aside
the apostle’s pleadings with the lightness of a laugh. Paul
was too much
in earnest to take the king other than seriously, and so he
responds with the
passion and persuasion of our text. He turns the king’s
words into a plea
against continuing any longer in an unsaying relation to
Christianity. And
still we find, in regard to vital
personal religion, that very many come up,
as it were, to the door, BUT DO NOT ENTER IN! There are
amongst us
many —VERY MANY — who are
only almost Christians.
CHRISTIANS?
Ř The child of pious parents, surrounded
by gracious influences, led to the
house of God,
the child of many prayers, growing up to manhood or
womanhood,
yet not
wholly Christ’s today.
Ř The regular attendant at Christian
services; often moved to tears, and, it
may be, to
some passing resolves; but emotions pass, decision is delayed,
and they are
only almost
Christians yet.
Ř There may even be aged people trembling down
to life’s close, who,
having
put off religious decision again and again, seem now unable to
make the effort,
and ARE IN PERIL OF DYING ALMOST
CHRISTIANS!
Ř There are parents who have converted children, BUT
ARE THEMSELVES
the old side of
the border-land, yet in “trespasses and
sins.”
Ř There are those who have been aroused to
religious anxiety, but whose
experience,
varying for years, has never yet risen to full surrender. Each of
these classes
may be described with precise adaptation to the congregation
addressed.
ONLY ALMOST CHRISTIANS?
In the case of Agrippa the message
seemed novel and strange, and
there seemed excuse for requiring time to
think it over. In our case the
message may seem old and familiar, and it
may have lost its awakening and
persuading power. Sometimes the
hindrance is:
Ř intellectual. It may be
some perplexity or difficulty in relation to
Christian
doctrine. Or it may be the influence of the intellectual tone of
the
society in which a man mingles.
Ř Or the hindrance may be lack of sufficient motive: especially
an
inadequate
impression of the evil and peril of sin. To use a figure, the boat
lies rocking
just outside the harbor bar, and there is not wave enough to lift
it over.
Therefore must the true preacher find motive and persuasion, urging,
in
Christ’s stead, “Be
ye reconciled unto God.” (II
Corinthians 5:20)
Ř But the chief hindrances are moral. It was
Agrippa’s self-indulgent and
immoral life
which really turned the shafts aside. The pride of self stands in
our
way. Decision
for Christ involves SURRENDER — a giving up of
that “self-reliance”
which is so dear to flesh and blood. Illustrate from the
story of the
young rich ruler (Mark 10:17-27; and recall our Lord’s teachings
about the “strait
gate and the narrow way.” (Matthew 7:13-14) This may
be the reason
why we are not “altogether” Christians. There is a cable
holding under
the water somewhere, and the ship cannot float out free into
the
that
draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart
rope.” Isaiah 5:18) The last to
yield is usually feeling; we wait for
feeling, and,
waiting, let the golden hours of opportunity slip by. (An
older friend
from my youth, Grover Brown, told me that you cannot
base your
relationship with God by feelings, but must go by the
Word of
God! - CY – 2018)
See it in the estimate we form
of Agrippa’s character. He is utterly weak
and ignoble. We admire the
confessor and the martyr; we scorn the
hesitating and indecisive — such
as Reuben, “unstable as water”
(Genesis 49:4) The people at
one should be fined who would
take neither side in politics. It is a condition
which dishonors God more than
open rebellion, because it
assumes that
there really are
some considerations to be set against His claims, some
reasons why we should
not love and serve Him. And such indecision
effectually shuts us out from
the benefits of the gospel provision.
The “almost Christian” has:
Ř
no sense of pardoned sin;
Ř
no joy of peace with God;
Ř
no strength from the consciously present Savior;
Ř
no title to the everlasting heritage.
In religious matters there
really is no borderland. Illustrate by
the story of the wreck of the Royal
Charter. The fore part ledged on a
rock, the back part, flapped by
the waves, broke away and sank in deep
water with all that were in it.
Just at the moment of parting a young man
stood on the hinder part, and
made a leap for dear life. He was saved, for
he could decide and act. Then
plead, as Paul pleaded, that, whether by
little persuasion or by much, men would end their
state of indecision, and
BECOME
ALTOGETHER CHRIST’S!
30"And when he had
thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and
Bernice, and they
that sat with them:" And the king rose up for and when
he had thus spoken, the king, etc., Authorized Version and Textus Receptus.
They that sat with them. The chief captains and principal men and the royal
attendants of ch. 25:23.
31 "And when they were gone aside, they talked
between themselves, saying,
This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds." Had withdrawn for
were gone aside,
Authorized Version; spake one to another for talked between
themselves, Authorized Version. Had withdrawn; viz. from the public hall, the
ἀκροατήριον – akroataerion – audience chamber of ch.25:23, into the private
room, "the withdrawing-room" adjoining it. There they freely talked over the trial,
and all agreed that the prisoner had done nothing to deserve either death or
imprisonment. Paul had made a favorable impression upon both
Jews and Romans.
32 "Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man
might have been set at liberty,
if he had not appealed unto Caesar." And Agrippa said for then said Agrippa,
Authorized Version. Agrippa said unto Festus. Festus had consulted Agrippa,
as one conversant with Jewish questions, about the case of Paul (ch. 25:14-21).
And in the place of hearing he had publicly stated that he had brought him before
King Agrippa to be examined, that, "after examination had," he might know what
to write to the emperor. Accordingly Agrippa now gives it as his opinion that the
prisoner might have been discharged if he had not appealed to Caesar. Festus was
of the same opinion, and doubtless wrote to Nero to that effect.
The result was that
he was acquitted before the emperor's
tribunal at
Paul before Festus and Agrippa (vs. 1-32)
His address may be divided as follows:
Ř His life in Judaism. He had been brought up, as all knew, in the strictest
sect of his
religion, a Pharisee. Paul’s example, it has been remarked, lends
no countenance
to the fallacy that dissolute students make the best
preachers. He had
been conscientious from the first, a friend of virtue, and
a servant of
the Law. He had not sacrificed his youth to vice, nor wooed
with unabashed
front the means of weakness and debility, physical or
moral. “One
cannot believe that men of this kind are so quickly converted.
Ordination does
not change the heart, nor is the surplice or gown a means
of grace.”
Ř The charge against him. Notwithstanding
that an evil leaven of passion
or zeal had
worked in him in those unconverted days (and he does not
conceal it), he
had retained the Pharisaic hope of the resurrection of the
dead. The zeal
of the Jews, on the other hand, against the gospel, tended to
cut them off
from living connection with the religion of their fathers, and
from the
blessings of the better covenant which superseded the old. And
this zeal of
unbelief was blind. What was there incredible in the idea of the
resurrection of
the dead? The question may be generalized to the
unbeliever —
What is there at bottom so incredible in any of the great
objects of
Christian faith? The form of the belief may change, the substance
remains from
age to age.
Ř His own resistance to conviction. He can speak feelingly to these
skeptics, for
he has known the most stubborn doubt and resistance himself.
He
had been under an illusion. He had thought it a duty to oppose Jesus.
There is a deep
and pure joy in confession, and in the knowledge that one’s
own sincere
experience will be profitable as guide and warning to others.
He is ever ready
to speak on this matter; it is one of his noblest traits (22.;
I Timothy
1:16). The blessed change he can never forget; he is a
living wonder
to himself and to many. Let preachers derive their best
material from the
experience of their heart and life. (We
can but speak
the things we
have seen and heard! CY – 2018)
Ř His conversion. (vs.
13-18.) The splendor of that light from heaven
shining on his
path of blind fury can never be forgotten. And the first beam
which breaks
through the night of our sin and stubbornness is worthy of
eternal
recollection and meditation (II Corinthians 4:6). The glory of the
once humiliated
but now enthroned Savior surpasses all. With the light
comes the
voice, which humiliates and raises, rebukes and cheers. The
voice echoes
the secret voice of his conscience, hitherto, in the intoxication
of his passion,
half heard or not heard at all. But it is also a voice which is
loftier than
that of the self-condemning conscience — Divine, pardoning,
and
cheering. “Stand
up!” God slays and makes alive. The like voice was
heard upon the
holy mount (Matthew 17:7). From that moment Saul
rose up a new
creature in Christ Jesus. And it is the revelation of the love
of God, a
thought mightier than all our own doubt, a force in the soul
irresistible
against our passion and hate, which must conquer us and in our
lowliness make
us for the first time truly great.
Ř His ordination. It may be
viewed as an example of true ordination to the
sacred calling.
o
It is a Divine act. The prayers and the laying on of hands
will not
suffice to turn
the worldling into the spiritual man. There must be the
inner
sanctification and anointing. “Power from on high” must be
received, by which
a man may stand and witness and serve.
o
It
appoints to service, and only to honor through service. Neither
dignified
titles nor riches are promised to Paul, but toil and suffering
even unto
death. The best orders a man can have are to be found in his
ability to
teach and in the evidence of fruit from his teaching.
o
Paul
was to be a witness, not only of that which he had already seen,
but
of that which was yet to be shown to him. (consider the time he
spent in
And so with
every genuine preacher. The Lord hath yet more light
and truth to
break forth from the consciousness of the Christian
thinker and
student, from the practical experience of life as well
as from His
Word. Along with the command there goes the blessing;
with the
commission the promise of protection in its discharge. And
the faithful
servant of Christ may be assured in like manner that when
he is to be
employed he will be defended; “the good hand of
God” will be upon him (as with Nehemiah –
Nehemiah 2:18) until
his work is
done.
o
Sketch
of his life-work. Its
aim is:
§
instruction — “to open eyes;”
§
conversion — “to turn men from darkness to light,”
etc.;
§
induction
into the new covenant, or kingdom of grace —
“that
they may receive forgiveness of sins;”
§
glorification — “a lot among them that are sanctified.”
Faith in Christ
is the means to all. He had been following out this
Divine
program. He had obeyed without hesitation the heavenly vision,
and in
various places had been calling men to repentance and to the
new life.
In the faithful pursuit of his calling and because of it, he
had
encountered opposition; yet had been supported by God’s
help
to the present day.
His teaching was but a continuation and
fulfillment
of the ancient teaching of the prophets. The three great
points of
his preaching were:
§
the
humiliation of Christ,
§
His
resurrection, and
§
the
gospel for all nations.
So clear,
straightforward, manly, and consistent was the tenor of his
address.
Ř On Festus. He
represents the cynic or indifferentist in matters of
religion,
or the worldly view of the unspiritual man. Character is
spiritually
discerned only by inward and outward sympathy. The
best in Paul was
misunderstood, as his worst had been. Says Luther,
“The world
esteems others as prudent so long as they are mad, and
as mad when
they cease to be mad and become wise.” Saul passed
for a wise and
able man in the days of his persecuting fury. When
he “came to himself,” and was
clothed in a right mind, he was
reckoned mad. One day the tables will be turned, and the
children
of
this world will say,”
We fools held his life to
be senseless,
and
now he is numbered among the children of God” (Wisdom
of Solomon
5:5). The deep truth is that the exaltation of the poet,
the prophet,
the mystic, and the believer are hardly distinguishable
to the
superficial glance from madness or from sensual intoxication.
So
was it on the day of Pentecost. And of the Christ Himself they
said, “He is mad, and hath a devil”
(John 10:20). But Paul replies
to Festus that
the substance of his words is true,
and the temper in
which he has
spoken is rational. The history of
Christianity has
proved the
truth of this. The world in the long run is not governed
by unreason,
but by reason struggling against unreason. In every
popular revival
of Christianity there may be seen a manifestation of
what looks like
folly and unreason; but to a deeper view there is a
“method
in this madness.”
Ř On Agrippa. Here is an
awakened conscience. Paul recognizes in him
the stirrings
of faith, and boldly aims a blow at his conscience. “Those
are the true
court preachers who will not be deterred by the star on the
breast from
asking whether the Morning Star shines in the heart.” But
Agrippa fences.
What he feels he will not avow. He would lead a double
life —
representing one thing to the world, thinking another himself.
He
is the type of a numerous class, who would gladly be blessed, were
it
not for the strait door and the narrow path, which they will not tread
(Luke 13:24).
How near we may be to bliss, yet how far from it! The
heart may be
touched, the intellect illuminated, the will aroused, the
hour
acceptable, and yet — some deep stream of passion runs at our
feet, which we
will not ford; some “cunning bosom sin” keeps out
the good angels
of repentance and faith that would enter. The reply
of Paul to
Agrippa’s light words again brings out a sharp contrast.
Better
be the “prisoner of Jesus
Christ” than
the prisoner of passion!
Better the
regal freedom of the redeemed
man’s soul, in
poverty and
chains, than
the splendor of the potentate
enslaved by lust and
by
the fear of
men! In the audience-chamber we have
thus the most
diverse
attitudes of mind towards Christianity represented:
o
Paul, in the full inspiration of faith and life
in the Son
of God;
o
Agrippa, convinced but not converted;
o
Bernice, resistant to authority or discipline
o
Festus, hardened in indifferent cynicism.
Some wanting
little, others much, to make them Christians. But what
is the
practical difference between almost saved and quite
damned?
And so, the
sermon ended, the audience disperses with commendations
on the eloquence
of the preacher and the manliness of his bearing.
There is a
certain tragedy in every such break-up of a congregation.
Every man goes
to his own place; and a
savor of life unto life
or
of
death unto death has
been tasted by many. (II Corinthians 2:16)
A Threefold Illustration of the
Irrepressible Energy of the Truth
(vs. 24-32)
This paragraph has its value, and that a great value, in
the grouping of its
contents. And the three members that make the group are
worthy each of
individual consideration as well. But here we notice only
certain great
though general facts.
court. Immediately afterwards it
shows that Agrippa cannot persuade
himself to hold his peace before
the prisoner and the court. And lastly, it
finds them something to say “between
themselves,” in private, and that
something was certainly a
witness to the right.
VARIOUS CHARACTERS.
Festus and Agrippa were as different in race,
religion, character, as perhaps
could be. But while the force of truth makes
them both find an utterance when
it had been wiser for them had they kept
silence, yet how amazingly
different those utterances were! Festus taxes
Paul with madness. Agrippa,
whether utterly serious or not, bears
testimony to the influence he
feels from what Paul says, in its
persuasiveness. Neither of them
refuse, even though the case is involved in
all possible publicity, to leave
the last word with Paul. He does, as it were,
hold the field, and in a very
real sense finds himself left, not only in his own
heart, but in the “pomp” of that
open court, master of the field.
open honor is not done
spontaneously to it, its victory not proclaimed, and
its rights smothered, how
superficially soever, it secures its own in a yet
more emphatic way. It secures a place indelible for itself, and on a page
that shall
endure to all time; and it owes nothing
to human favor, no thanks
to human patronage, no atom of
indebtedness to any lifting hand of the
great, the wise, the mighty, the
proud. Never mind all the suppression of
these, it transpires, and it gets all it needs from the
very rehearsal of how
they suppressed (vs. 30-32).
Secret Acquittals (vs. 30-32)
These closing verses of a chapter thrilling with interest
suggest the subject
of the various acquittals that men both good and bad
obtain. The range of
value belonging to acquittals received by men from men is
vast indeed.
They stand in strange contrast to the one acquittal or one
condemnation
which awaits each and every man in his turn, ON THE
THRESHHOLD
OF THE HEREAFTER! The present passage, however, will confine attention
to one class of acquittals rather than invite thought to
range at large. And we
may think:
Ř The man is innocent: his judges know it; their inner judgment acquits
him; their very
lips acquit him, but only “between themselves.” They say it
not to the
innocent accused, not to the accusers, not to the world. Their
real verdict transpires — God takes care of
that — but it is no thanks to
them, and it is
not the good it should be to him, the victim of their injustice,
who was given to
them that they might do justice. This is one sort of secret
acquittal.
Ř The man is guilty: his judges know it; their deepest judgment
finds him
guilty; their
lips pronounce it “between themselves.” And circumstances
are such that
they pronounce their verdict of guilty before man also. Yet
for all that,
the secret thought of their heart is that they will acquit, and
their covered
deed is acquittal. They
mete not out equal justice. Their
weights
and balances are not fair and just. They condone and countenance
— the
criminal. And this is another
sort of secret acquittal, as mischievous
and disastrous
as any can be. For such as these nothing can be said except
the words of
rebuke, of unsparing condemnation, of well-visited scorn.
CONSCIENCE. The
brightest pages of history are written with instances
of this kind of secret
acquittal. From Joseph — and, were all the truth
known, from a much earlier than
Joseph — to the perfect, the sublime, the
spotless innocence of Jesus, and again with fresh impulse onward by
Stephen, and Paul, and Peter,
and John, and the martyrs, and an
unnumbered host, of
whom the world was not worthy!
(Hebrews 11:38)
the record of such acquittal is
safely written. What a wonderful resource an
innocent
conscience! What a store of peace it
means! What a defense against
misery, anguish,
remorse, and hell on earth! It is
already the bud of
Heaven’s unspeakable bliss.
present, God’s verdict is often
veiled from view, silent for the ear as the
star that shines the most
distant and the coldest — and all the scene seems
filled up with sight and sound
of human judgment. Yet two things are to be
said.
Ř That the man who thinks knows that this is
only the surface appearance;
that a time far
otherwise conditioned hastens to meet this present scene,
and prepares a
strange reversal.
Ř That to the heart of the humble,
God-fearing man, there is given the
individual
and most precious earnest of
Divine approval and complacency
and
love MANY A TIME! That peace which the world
cannot give God’s
secret acquittal does give, and it is the sort of peace that both “sheds
itself
abroad” (Romans 5:5) with all the swiftness and
persuasiveness of
fragrance
itself, and preserves the sacred secret of its sweetness. Whatever
else Paul had
or had not, he had three acquittals, and they were all for the
present secret,
the acquittal:
o
of
the unjust judges, and this was no usual honor;
o
of his own conscience; and
o
of
the holy Master and God.
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