III. Are superior to the functions of human counsel.—“I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me” (vers. 16, 17). The counsel of the wise and good is valuable, and ordinarily should be diligently sought and thoughtfully pondered. But when God calls, the commission is beyond either the advice or the opposition of men. Paul had reached a state into which no human authority could lift him, and from which it could not dislodge him. He might legitimately confer with others as to methods of work, but his call to work was imposed upon him by a power to which all human counsellors and ecclesiastical magnates must submit. Channing once said: “The teacher to whom are committed the infinite realities of the spiritual world, the sanctions of eternity, the powers of the life to come, has instruments to work with which turn to feebleness all other means of influence.”
IV. Stimulate to active service.—“But I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus” (ver. 17). Immediately after his conversion the history tells us, “Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues” (Acts ix. 20). In Arabia, a country of the Gentiles, he doubtless preached the Gospel, as he did before and after at Damascus, and thus demonstrated the independence of his apostolic commission. A call to preach demands immediate response and impels to earnest and faithful endeavour. It is said that Whitefield’s zealous spirit exhausted all its energies in preaching, and his full dedication to God was honoured by unbounded success. The effect produced by his sermons was indescribable, arising in a great degree from the most perfect forgetfulness of self during the solemn moment of declaring the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. His evident sincerity impressed every hearer and is said to have forcibly struck Lord Chesterfield when he heard him at Lady Huntingdon’s. The preacher, as the ambassador for Christ, is eager to declare His message, and anxious it should be understood and obeyed.
V. Are recognised by the highest ecclesiastical authority.—“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and . . . James the Lord’s brother” (vers. 18, 19). The claims of Paul to the apostleship, evidenced by such supernatural signs and such solid Christian work and patient suffering, were at length acknowledged by the chief leaders of the mother Church in Jerusalem. Good work advertises itself, and sooner or later compels recognition. What an eventful meeting of the first Gospel pioneers, and how momentous the influence of such an interview and consultation! Though the call of God is unacknowledged, ridiculed, and opposed, its duties must be faithfully discharged. The day of ample reward will come.
Lessons.—1. God only can make the true preacher. 2. A call to preach involves suffering and toil. 3. The fruit of diligent and faithful work will certainly appear.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 15–17. The Conversion and Vocation of St. Paul.
I. The causes of St. Paul’s conversion.—1. The good pleasure of God. 2. His separation from the womb, which is an act of God’s counsel whereby He sets men apart to be members of Christ and to be His servants in this or that office. 3. His vocation by grace—the accomplishment of both the former in the time which God had appointed.
II. The manner of his vocation.—“To reveal His Son in me.” 1. By preparation. God humbled and subdued the pride and stubbornness of his heart and made him tractable and teachable. 2. By instruction. (1) Propounding unto him the commandment of the Gospel, to repent and believe in Christ. (2) Offering to him the promise of remission of sins and life everlasting when he believed. 3. By a real and lively teaching when God made Paul in his heart answer the calling. Ministers of Christ must learn Christ as Paul learned Him.
III. The end of Paul’s conversion.—To preach Christ among the Gentiles. 1. Christ is the substance or subject-matter of the whole Bible. 2. To preach Christ is: (1) To teach the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, and His offices as King, Prophet, and Priest. (2) That faith is an instrument to apprehend and apply Christ. (3) To certify and reveal to every hearer that it is the will of God to save him by Christ if he will receive Him. (4) That he is to apply Christ with His benefits to himself in particular. 3. To preach to the Gentiles: (1) Because the prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles must be fulfilled. (2) Because the division between the Jews and Gentiles is abolished.
IV. Paul’s obedience to the calling of God (vers. 16, 17).—1. God’s Word, preached or written, does not depend on the authority of any man—no, not on the authority of the apostles themselves. 2. There is no consultation or deliberation to be used at any time touching the holding or not holding of our religion. 3. Our obedience to God must be without consultation. We must first try what is the will of God, and then absolutely put it into execution, leaving the issue to God. 4. Paul goes into Arabia and Damascus, and becomes a teacher to his professed enemies.—Perkins.