_Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself._ PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA Here is all that Christianity ever asked for: an opportunity to speak for itself; and its answer is the one which must always be returned: “I beseech thee to hear me patiently.” Christianity always appears i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?_ WHY IS THE RESURRECTION INCREDIBLE I. Incredulity has many causes and justifies itself with many reasons. It has never seen a resurrection, and it thinks it believes only what it sees. There have been plenty of f... [ Continue Reading ]
_I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth._ ST. PAUL’S THOUGHT WITH HIMSELF 1. Emerson verily thought with himself that every subject was to be brought before him for his individual approval or disapproval. In nearly the last sermon he ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereupon as I went to Damascus._ THE CONVERSION OF SAUL OF TARSUS I. His character before his conversion. 1. He was a moral man (Philippians 3:6). Yet he needed conversion. The necessity of conversion arises from the depravity of human nature, and not from a greater or less degree of immorality... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 sentime... [ Continue Reading ]
_To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light._ THE EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL I. The opening of the eyes to let in the truth. The gospel shows us our dark, lost, and needy state, and the willingness and ample means of God to deliver us. II. The new bias of the soul, as a consequence.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision._ THE HEAVENLY VISION This is Paul’s account of the decisive moment on which all his own future, and a great deal of the future of Christianity and of the world, hung. The Voice had spoken from heaven, and now everything de... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself._ THE EFFECTS OF PAUL’S DEFENCE ON FESTUS I. The charge of Festus. He did not denounce Paul as a hypocrite or a knave, but rather as a brainless fanatic. This impression, though false, might have been s... [ Continue Reading ]
_This thing was not done in a corner._ THE PUBLICITY OF CHRISTIANITY I. What? Christianity in-- 1. Its history. (1) Its preparatory stages--patriarchal, legal, prophetic--were all enacted in the open day, and each bore public testimony to the coming Christ. (2) Its actual advent. The star guide... [ Continue Reading ]
_King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?_ PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA 1. Agrippa may know the prophets, and still not know Him of whom the prophets testify. An acquaintance with Christ’s forerunners or an intimacy with Christ’s followers is not an acquaintance with Christ Himself. 2. Agrippa may even... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou … were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds._ PAUL’S PRAYER BEFORE AGRIPPA I. His decision intimated in the words--“such as I am.” What, then, was Paul? A Christian. 1. What is included in this? Not knowledge merely, nor a p... [ Continue Reading ]