But rise, and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee to make thee a minister and a witness.
Christianity self-attested
If you had given you what was asserted to be a speech made long ago by your father, the first reading of it would settle the matter. Knowing your father, his sentiments, his mode of expression, you would be able to say instantly whether the speech was authentic or fabricated. We ought by this time to know enough of Christ’s manner to be able to say whether any speech purporting to be His was actually ever spoken by His lips. Is this? Let us see. Christ is reported as saying--
1. “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.” Here I recall the words which made the first ministers, “Follow Me.” He is as personal as ever.
2. “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make--” Here I remember the word, “I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus Christ is still Creator. The speaker does not propose to modify, add to, rearrange.
3. “To make thee a minister”--that is a new word--“and a witness”--that is an old word. “Ye are,” said Jesus Christ, “witnesses of these things.”
4. Proceed still further: “a witness both of these things which thou hast seen.” Why, that is the old method: “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see.” We speak as eyewitnesses; we are not quoters from authors of an ancient date.
5. Proceed further: “and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee.” Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” There is no end to the meaning of revelation. There is no end to the literature of the alphabet. The letters are but six-and-twenty in number, and no man attempts to add another! It is the same with the New Testament. Observe, nothing is added to the revelation. However large the book, it is all in the alphabet; however magnificent the unfoldment of the truth by human eloquence, the truth itself is the distinct and direct gift of God alone.
6. Proceed now to verse 17: “Delivering them from the people and from the Gentiles.” Here is the Lord’s own speech: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,” etc. It is a marvellous thing if this was invented. It is impossible, considering Saul’s antecedents, that he could have invented a speech so perfect, not only in the letter, but in the spirit.
7. The eighteenth verse is a summary of all that Jesus began both to do and to say. The miracles and the gospels are all there. For example, “To open their eyes.” That is what Jesus Christ was always doing. He could never be at rest in the presence of the blind. Again and again He said, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” Christ will not have any blind followers.
8. “To turn them from darkness to light.” When did He ever turn men from light to darkness? Whenever He visited a town, the inhabitants were startled by an excess of intellectual lustre; old thoughts stood up in new meanings when He breathed them; the law itself became a kind of gospel when He repronounced its awful words.
9. “And from the power of Satan unto God.” When did He ever reverse that process? His first battle was with the devil in the wilderness, and His last battle was with the devil on the Cross.
10. Go further: “that they may receive forgiveness of sins.” That is His very word: “Son, daughter, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee.” That is not the kind of word which a bad man would be likely to invent.
11. But how was this forgiveness to be accomplished? and how was it be followed? By “inheritance among them which are sanctified.” The whole process is set down to the action of “faith.” Have we ever heard that word before? Why, the word is the keyword of Christ’s ministry. Conclusion: So far the speech is self-proving. I find in it no syllable or tone that is not in vital accord with everything we have read in the Gospels ever spoken or done by the Son of God. This is a field of evidence to which I would invite every student of the Scriptures. Read the Book carefully through with a view to see how far its parts are confirmed by one another, and how far even apparent discrepancies admit of a kind of reconciliation which adds infinite force to the substantial argument for the unity of the Scriptures. Perhaps a more vivid instance of confirmation could hardly be produced than the one which is now before us. Paul is supposed to be in a fanatical state of mind; he is struck down to the ground, blinded, disabled; he is supposedly the victim of an hallucination of the most complete kind; yet when he himself reports what happened to him, no slip or flaw can be found in his evidence which throws the slightest doubt upon the identity of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the accepted Gospels. More than Chat, everything is here which is needed. Take this as a programme for the revolution, regeneration, and perfecting of the world, and add to it one line that is not involved in its unfathomable wisdom. It cannot be done. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Why am I saved
1. Notice the swiftness of the revelation of God’s purpose as to the apostle of the Gentiles. An ordinary call to the ministry usually involves long processes of self-examination and observation of God’s guiding providences.
2. The distinctness with which Paul comprehended his mission is notable. He continually declares his one, only aim in life to “apprehend (or lay hold of) Him,” he says, “who has laid hold of me.”
3. This obedient spirit deserves distinct mention. “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” He never was. At the end of his life he wrote, “I have kept the faith.” But turning away from these and other lines of discussion, let us accentuate the proposition that God has a purpose in our salvation. We ought to know what that purpose is. Am I saved merely to have my name entered on a Church roll? to keep up a form of godliness?
No; I am saved for a two-fold purpose--viz., to glorify God’s grace in my personal salvation and sanctification, and also to advance the kingdom of God in the world.
1. We infer, first of all, the need of the illuminating light from heaven to make us realise our high calling of God.
2. Again, we see our obligation to fulfil Christ’s purpose in our salvation as Paul saw the purpose of his salvation and accomplished it. (G. E. Reed.)
The objects of the Christian ministry
I. The object of the Christian ministry is the exhibition of the character of God. That there is a God, “all Nature cries aloud through all her works” (Psalms 19:1-4; Romans 1:20). But “Nature is a speechless beauty, waiting in silence till man shall find leisure and inclination to he instructed by dumb signs.” She discloses some traces of his wisdom, goodness, and power; but a sinner, under a sense of his guilt, might remain in her presence for ages, without discovering what is essential to his relief. It was reserved to the gospel to reveal the character of Him whose perfections are unceasingly adored in the world of light, whose will is law, to whose designs all beings and all events are subservient, whose hands supply the wants of every creature, whose heart compassionates the children of sorrow, whose frown is hell, whose smile is heaven. Even the Old Testament afforded but partial discoveries of Him. A veil still remained over Him; which veil the gospel has drawn aside. His holiness, His justice, and His mercy, shine in the clearest light; there, if genuine Christians, we effectually discern the doctrines which demand our faith, the privileges which claim our gratitude, the promises which encourage our hope, the principles which compose our character.
II. The Christian ministry is designed to promote the destruction of the kingdom of satan and the establishment of that of Christ. The dominion of Satan commenced at an early period. Its foundation was laid in falsehood. The supports of his throne are delusion and depravity, wrought into a thousand fantastic and ten thousand odious forms. But the usurper was not permitted to reign without control. His final defeat was predicted in the very scene which had been disgraced by his victory. Then was the assurance given, that “the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.” At length the Messiah came, for the glorious purpose of recovering this colony of rebels to the duty they had renounced, and the felicity they had forfeited. His triumphs began in the wilderness, where He foiled the tempter, and compelled him to retire; they were extended, when “the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name.” But it was after His resurrection and ascension that this mighty Conqueror shone forth in the splendour of His sublimest achievements. The commission with which He invested the apostles was accompanied with power from on high; and He “bare them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost.” A thousand delusions were scattered by the beams of truth; the slumbers of insensibility were shaken off; the rock of impenitence was melted; faith opened to the moral wanderer a heavenly prospect; peace cheered the bosom that had throbbed with anguish; and the sceptre of righteousness was swayed over the faculties, passions, and appetites, that had been perverted and enslaved by the tyranny of hell.
III. The Christian ministry is established for the purpose of leading those among whom it is exercised to the practise of “pure and undefiled religion,” and thus effecting the most important change that can be introduced into the condition of mankind (verse 18). Accordingly, we find the same apostle afterwards stating (Titus 2:11-12). Such is the influence of the gospel on the character of everyone by whom it is cordially received. It not only reveals a Saviour, but is the instrument of conveying salvation. Through the medium of the gospel the Holy Spirit enlightens the understanding, subdues vicious propensities, restores the Divine image, and prepares the frail tenant of earth for the inheritance reserved in heaven.
IV. The Christian ministry will result in the brightest manifestation of the Saviour’s glory. To Him it owes its origin, its support, its conductors, and its efficacy. He is the Subject of it. Apart from His dignity and condescension; His virtues and sufferings; His doctrines, commandments, and promises; the miracles which He wrought, the atonement which He made, His triumph over His death, His constant intercession, and the grace which flows from His inexhaustible fulness--the Christian ministry were a mere name, and those who engage in it only beat the air. But when a man, saved from eternal ruin ascends before a congregation inspired with grateful astonishment, and anxious to see every hearer a participant of his own felicity, how can he forget his Divine benefactor, or allude to Him in obscure language, and with faint regard! Behold Him, and all who, being honoured with the same office, press forward in the same spirit, continually insisting on the all-important theme. They are the servants of Jesus Christ, and they urge His authority; they live upon His smile, and they want words to express the magnitude of the privilege; they are the almoners of His bounty, and they beseech, as on the bended knee, their fellow mortals to receive it. Great is the reward which awaits them all. (O. A. Jeary.)
God’s work upon minister and convert
I. A work wrought by God upon the minister.
1. Subjugation. While a man is a rebel, the Lord does not appoint him an ambassador; while he is dead in sin, a preacher of the way of life. Paul was struck down; for if he had not fallen, he would not have known how to lift others up. He remained blind for three days; otherwise he would not have been qualified to deal with others in darkness. See what God does in His ministers to fit them for your conversion. In order to slay your sins the shaft has been polished. Each of the best locks made by our eminent locksmiths is unique, and each needs its own special key: so God fits certain men for reaching certain men.
2. Encouragement. “Rise, and stand upon thy feet.” Men can hardly be very useful till they cease to be despondent, and become energetic and hopeful. I have noticed that those who do not believe that they will be successful seldom are so; but those who rise and stand upon their feet, and manfully expect that God will bless them, are not disappointed.
3. Ordination. And to this end he must see the Lord for himself. Our Lord’s appearing--
(1) Makes him willing to be a servant, for that is the meaning of the word “minister.” When the renewed mind beholds the Lord, it cries out, “What wilt Thou have me to do?”
(2) Qualifies him to act as a witness. We cannot bear witness to that which we have never seen. Hearsay is of small value. Heads are won by reasoning, but hearts are won by witness bearing.
4. Continuous instruction. He is to be a witness not only of those things which he has seen, but also of those things in the which the Lord will yet appear unto him.
5. Constant preservation. “Delivering thee from the people,” etc. Paul’s life was always in danger, and yet never in real peril, for the Lord was his keeper. So shall every true servant of Christ be kept as with a garrison from all evil.
II. The work wrought in the hearer.
1. Illumination: the Lord sends His servant “to open their eyes.” Men are born blind, and continue blind till, by the power of Jesus, sight is given to them. Your education and surroundings have perhaps placed a film of prejudice over your eyes; if a candid, childlike spirit were given you, you would see. Or possibly some favourite sin is like a cataract upon the eye of your conscience, and you cannot see the evil of sin or the beauty of holiness. Or it may be that unbelief darkens your soul.
2. Conversion: “to turn them from darkness to light.” What a blessed turning is that which makes us face truth, and goodness, and God, and heaven; and leave ignorance, sin, and hell behind.
3. Translation. As the soul is brought into a new element, so is it also brought under a new government. “From the power of Satan unto God.” Somebody says, “I do not understand how this can be performed in a minute.” Well, two men are fighting, and we beg them to leave off. Do you recommend them to leave off gradually? If anybody held a pistol at my head, I should not say, “Take it away by degrees.” Changes of mind such as are necessary to conversion had need be quick when sin is to be forsaken, for every moment deepens the guilt. It may seem a very gradual process by which a man who was dead comes to life; but for certain there is a point at which he left the dead and became alive, and that point God sees very clearly, even though we do not.
4. Complete forgiveness. The same moment that we receive Christ, we “receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified.” What a blessing to become an heir of God! To what choice company is a sinner introduced when he believes in Jesus! He is a freeholder among the burgesses of the New Jerusalem.
5. And all this has for its certificate and mark of genuineness these words--“By faith that is in Me.” The whole process of salvation is by faith.
III. A work which must be done by the hearer himself. This text speaks of Paul being an instrument in the hands of God of opening men’s eyes, etc., and they seem to be passive; but now they are called upon to be active. We are created thinking, intelligent beings, and we are saved as such. Never let us forget either the free agency of man or the purposes of God. Grace reigns not over slaves, but over obedient children.
1. You must repent. It is not the work of God the Holy Ghost to repent for you, but to lead you to repent.
2. You must turn to God. Your prayer may be, “Turn thou me, and I shall be turned”; but the command is, “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” God will turn you, but you have willingly to yield, and thus turn yourself.
3. You must do works meet for repentance; for wherever there is true faith there will be corresponding works, such as these: restitution if you have wronged anyone, reconciliation if you are at enmity with anyone, acknowledgment if you have spoken falsely, giving up of evil habits, and an earnest endeavour to be pure and holy. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Apostolic ministry
I. Its theme. What had he to testify?
1. All that he had seen of Christ. He had seen and heard great things amidst the bright light which struck him to the ground.
2. All that he should see of Christ. He would receive many more communications. A true minister will be always receiving fresh communications of truth, and he must proclaim the new as well as the old.
II. Its beneficence. He had to effect--
1. The highest good.
(1) Spiritual illumination: “Open their eyes.” An expression this implying--
(a) The moral blindness of the sinner.
(b) The restorative character of Christianity--it does not give new eyes, but opens the old ones.
(c) The genuineness of Christ as a reformer--the design of impostors is to close eyes.
(2) Soul emancipation: “From the power of Satan unto God.” Satan enslaves men by lust, worldliness, prejudice, superstition, etc. The minister’s work is to manumit the slave.
(3) Divine forgiveness: “That they may receive forgiveness of sins.” This act is represented in the Bible as cancelling, forgetting, drowning sin; separating the sinner from his sin.
(4) Eternal blessedness: “Inheritance amongst them which are sanctified,” etc.
(a) Legitimate possession--having a kind of right to it.
(b) Social intercourse “among them,” not a scene of isolation.
(c) Moral purity “sanctified.” The Christian circle is holy.
2. The highest good by a simple method. By no onerous labour or costly sacrifices, but by “faith that is in Me”; not in priests, not in human creeds, not in the opinions of men about Me. Faith in Christ is not a mere thing of the intellect; it involves the deepest sympathies of the heart. Nor is it even a thing of thought and feeling combined; it takes the form of living acts; it moulds the life.
(1) Faith is in itself one of the easiest acts a man can perform. A child can believe; the propensity to believe is one of the strongest in human nature. Credulity has ruined the world.
(2) Faith in itself is one of the most influential acts. What a man really believes sways his thoughts, controls his passions, and regulates his life.
III. Its fulfilment. “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” He discharged this commission.
1. Self-denyingly.
2. Continuously. He began when he was converted, and went on. This is the true order. Begin with those nearest at hand.
3. Reformatively. His grand aim was spiritually to reform men, which includes two things--
(1) A renewed mind. “Repent”--a thorough change--and turn.
(2) A renewed life. “Works meet for repentance”: the conduct answering the new state of the soul. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Christian ministry defined
This is the kind of ministry which Christ wishes to establish. No other statement is needed. This conception is such as never entered into the uninspired mind, and, in particular, never could have entered into a mind constituted as was Saul’s.
I. “Rise and stand upon thy feet.” Here is the typical manliness of the Christian ministry. We do not want crawling, fawning men, but men who can stand up and show their stature and force. The minister, realising Christ’s conception, does not apologise for his existence: he stands upon his feet. Jesus did not speak to Saul as he lay down in the dust. He will not send frightened things about His messages and errands; He will have the whole man at his best. But what kind of manliness? Only that manliness which is made possible by Christ. To stand without permission to stand is impertinence; to stand in obedience to Divine injunction is humility. God can make men sit down, roll in the dust of the ground; and it is out of such lying that the true strength comes. If we have not first been laid down by the Divine power, we cannot stand in the Divine strength. The command is a royal command. He who has stood before Christ may well stand before kings. We get over all our nervousness when we are with the Lord. Fear God, and have no other fear.
II. “For I have appeared unto thee to make thee a minister.” Then ministers are not man made; they are not turned out by machinery. Only Christ can make ministers. We have forgotten this; we have taken to making a species of ecclesiastical pottery. We do not read, “I have appeared unto thee to make thee an equal, a priest,” but “a minister”--i.e., a servant, a slave. There is no mistaking the minister which Christ makes. The seal of Christ is not always the kind we like; but somewhere there is the indubitable sign--in one man in the intellect, in another in the tender heart; here in the eloquence that fills the ear with delight, and there in the pleading, holy intercession that lifts the listening soul into the quietude of heaven.
III. Christ must not only find the minister, He must find the sermon.
1. “A minister and a witness of these things which thou hast seen.” Not “those things which thou hast imagined,” invented; so that a man denying thy ministry must first deny thy character. Wondrous ministry! the soul continually upon oath, the voice forbidden to utter anything for the sake of uttering it, and charged to tell what the soul has already heard. No man could have imagined such a call, and especially no man like Paul.
2. “Of those things in the which I will appear unto thee.” There is a growing revelation. Christianity has a future as well as a past. Expect the vision; wait for the additional revelation. It will not be anything new in the sense of unrelated, but new in the sense of development, progress from the thing already in the soul. Sometimes we say of a sermon, “How large a sermon from so small a text!” No. In every acorn there is enough to clothe all the mountains of the earth with umbrageous oaks--forests out of which navies might be cut and palaces might be built. There is nothing new in the oak; everything was in the acorn. It is so when Jesus comes to us--the same Jesus, the same grace, the same Spirit, but growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
IV. “Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles.” Shall I, then, be in the clutch of evil men? Yes; but thou shalt be delivered from them. Every minister has his stormy career if he be a faithful minister. Sometimes a minister will tell you--as if he were preaching his own funeral sermon--that he never had a difference with any human creature. What an awful life to have lived! Hear the light saying, “I never had a battle with darkness!” The true minister cannot have a peaceful and luxurious life. Who wants the minister in his proper capacity? Not the makers of ill-gotten gain, profane men, worldly men, self-idolaters, nor men whose books have never been audited by pure sunlight. Many want him as a companion, a man as well-read as themselves, exchanging the pleasant word; but who wants him as a representative of the throne of God? Let any minister try that course, and he will soon see that it is impossible to be popular. (J. Parker, D. D.)