Vers. 15, 16. Conversion as illustrated by that of St. Paul.—In the case of St. Paul there are many circumstances not paralleled in the general experience of Christians; but in its essential features, in the views with which it was accompanied and the effects it produced, it was exactly the same as every one must experience before he can enter into the kingdom of God.
I. Its causes.—1. Paul was chosen by God before his birth to be a vessel of honour. “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb.” Are not all genuine Christians addressed as “elect of God” or chosen of God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ? Why should not the real Christian give scope to those emotions of gratitude which such reflections will inspire? 2. The more immediate cause was the call of Divine grace. “And called me by His grace.” There is a general call in the Gospel addressed to all men indiscriminately. There is, in every instance of real conversion, another and inward call, by which the Spirit applies the general truth of the Gospel to the heart. By this interior call Christ apprehends, lays hold on the soul, stops it in its impenitent progress, and causes it to hear His voice.
II. The means by which conversion is effected.—“To reveal His Son in me.” The principal method which the Spirit adopts in subduing the heart of a sinner is a spiritual discovery of Christ. There is an outward revelation of Christ—in the Scriptures; and an internal, of which the understanding and the heart are the seat. 1. The Spirit reveals the greatness and dignity of Christ. 2. The transcendent beauty and glory of Christ. 3. The suitableness, fulness, and sufficiency of Christ to supply all our wants and relieve all our miseries.
III. The effect of conversion on St. Paul.—“Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” He set himself without hesitation or demur to discharge the duties of his heavenly vocation. 1. His compliance with the will of Christ was immediate. 2. Universal and impartial. 3. Constant and persevering.—Robert Hall.
Ver. 16. The Qualification of the True Minister—
- Begins in an unmistakable revelation of Christ to his own soul.—“To reveal His Son in me.”
- Urges him to declare the Gospel to the most needy.—“That I might preach Him among the heathen.”
- Raises him above the necessity of mere human authority.—“Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.”
Ver. 17. The Divine Call to the Apostleship.—1. That extraordinary way whereby the Lord made known His mind to the penmen of Scripture was so infallible in itself and so evident to those to whom it came to be no delusion that they were above all doubt and needed not to advise with the best of men in order to their confirmation about the reality of it. 2. The Lord maketh sometimes the first piece of public service as hazardous, uncouth, and unsuccessful as any wherein He employs them afterwards, that His ministers may be taught to depend more on God’s blessing than on human probabilities, and that they may give proof of their obedience. Thus it was with Moses (Exod. ii. 10), and Jeremiah (Jer. i. 19). 3. The apostles were not fixed to any certain charge, as ordinary ministers are. Their charge was the whole world. They went from place to place as the necessities of people required, or as God by His providence and Spirit directed.—Fergusson.
Ver. 18. Requirement of a Preparation for Work.—“I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” 1. Affording opportunity for thought and self-testing. 2. Gives leisure for study and forming plans for future service. 3. Is often the prelude of a busy and prosperous career.
Vers. 18, 19. The Divine Call acknowledged.—1. That nothing of Peter’s supposed supremacy over Paul and the rest of the apostles can be gathered from this place appears from this, that Paul went first to his work before he came to Peter, and that his business with Peter was not to receive ordination from him or to evidence his subjection to him, but from respect and reverence to give him a friendly visit. 2. It ought to be the endeavour of Christ’s ministers to entertain love and familiarity one with another, as also to make their doing so evident to others, it being most unseemly for those who preach the Gospel of peace to others to live in discord among themselves. 3. As ministers may and ought to meet sometimes together, to evidence and entertain mutual love and concord, and because of that mutual inspection which they ought to have one of another, so their meeting ought neither to be so frequent nor of so long continuance that their flocks suffer prejudice.—Fergusson.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 20–24.