Acts 9:19-25 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.… I. HIS PREACHING. In those very synagogues where he had determined to make victims of the followers of Jesus, he was found owning and proclaiming his Name. And his proclamation was that Jesus was the Son of God. This was, perhaps, a new truth to the Christian Church - or at least in the clear recognition and definite expression it has now - and must have come with extraordinary power from lips that were learned and eloquent and charged with the profound conviction of one whose thoughts had undergone an entire revulsion. "I believe, therefore have I spoken." The Divine Son; his life and love, his work for mankind; - this is the heart of all Christian preaching. II. THE EFFECTS OF HIS PREACHING. Astonishment at the change of feeling and of conduct in Saul. Astonishment breeds curiosity and gives rise to inquiry and information. Wonder at the extraordinary phenomena of nature is the parent of science. Wonder at the extraordinary phenomena in the kingdom of God gives birth to conviction and to reverence and piety. A change of heart and life is the standing moral miracle. When he whom we have known as passionate, proud, and fierce is seen to be meekly giving up all worldly advantages for the sake of a despised cause, counting things that had been good loss for the excellency of a new knowledge, it is an evidence not to be resisted. "Fool!" must have been the verdict of his friends of the Sanhedrim on his conduct. "For Christ's sake" was the secret in the breast of Saul. III. THE GROWTH OF SAUL IN POWER. Mighty is the energy of truth newly found and grasped, with power to nerve the will and impart influence over others. The man of convictions, and with the courage of them, is the true conqueror. Second-hand opinions and inherited prejudices cannot stand against original force in the moral sphere. This is the Christ: one man believed it with all his soul, and triumphed over the world in its hatred and ignorance. But the growth of moral power in an individual calls up the dark shapes of envy and jealousy. Secret and cowardly opposition is the compliment which passion offers, the testimony it bears to the forms of clear, calm truth. Malice lurks and lies in wait to destroy what it fears to encounter in the open field. Energy in diffusing light and truth will be certain to evoke a corresponding energy oat of the kingdom of darkness to obscure and to destroy. So did the storm gather about Saul's devoted head. But the servants of God bear a charmed life until their work is done. Already the promise of the Savior, that Saul must suffer many things, is being fulfilled. In trouble and the deliverance out of it God is made known to our spirits as our God and our Savior. - J. Parallel Verses KJV: And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.WEB: He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus. |
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