SAUL'S CONVERSION 1-15. As the Romans looked upon the Nazarenes as an insignificant faction of Judaism, in some way to them utterly mysterious, out of harmony with their own church, they acquiesced in the purchase of Jewish favor with Nazarene blood. The miraculous appearing of the glorified Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
... _“to bind all those who call on the name of the Lord.”_ This is the universal designation of God's people, _i. e_., calling on the name of the Lord. Prayer moves the arm that moves the world, and turns the key that unlocks heaven.... [ Continue Reading ]
_“The Lord said to him, Go, for he is a vessel of election unto me.” “Election,” eklogee_, is from _ek_, “out,” and _legoo_, “choose.” Hence it means out from the chosen, _i. e_., chosen from the chosen. You are chosen out of this wicked world in regeneration. In sanctification, you are chosen from... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL'S SANCTIFICATION 20-25. (Galatians 1:15-22 and Romans 7.) Saul had long been a preacher of no ordinary ability. Hence he was a fluent orator when thus powerfully converted under the impetus of a spiritual Niagara. He preached Jesus boldly in Damascus, to the unutterable surprise of all who had... [ Continue Reading ]
Hence the Jews can stand him no longer. The Greek reveals that they passed a vote, assuming the form of a decree, to kill him. They secure the co-operation of Areta, the governor, who keeps the gates guarded, so as to catch him if he endeavors to pass out, while the Jews ransack the whole city to fi... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL'S APOSTOLICAL RECOGNITION 26-30. They had no mails nor telegraphs. News was slow and uncertain. His name had been the terror of Jerusalem. They fear a strategem, and all stand aloof until Barnabas, his old neighbor (a native of Cyprus, out in the Mediterranean near the Cilician shore), interpo... [ Continue Reading ]
See how he now seeks to undo all the mischief he ever did the cause of Christ at Jerusalem. He goes directly into those Hellenistic synagogues, _i. e_., where they used the Greek language, and where Stephen had preached and suffered martyrdom, and there he espoused Stephen's doctrine and profession,... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER'S EVANGELISTIC TOURS 31. The miraculous conversion of Saul stunned and paralyzed the aggressive persecutors of the fallen ecclesiasticism, at the same time giving a great boom to the rising hopes of the gospel church. _“And the church was multiplied by the exhortation of the Holy Ghost,” i. e_... [ Continue Reading ]
Here we find that the healing of Aeneas was wonderfully blessed of God in the awakening of the entire community, including the city of Lydda and the Plain of Sharon, extending from the sea back to the great mountain highlands of Judah and Benjamin. Consequently, many in those regions turned to the L... [ Continue Reading ]
... _“and washing her they placed her in an upper chamber.”_ Pursuant to the beautiful symbolism of the Jewish dispensation, they invariably washed a corpse with great care before depositing it in the sepulcher, thus typifying the complete purification of the soul in order to its admission into para... [ Continue Reading ]
We find here, and uniformly throughout the Scriptures, Peter, in harmony with the saints of all ages, kneeling in prayer. The Bible is our only guide. God help us to stick close to it. It is shocking to witness the stiff, formal worship of popular churches, not even the preacher kneeling. As Satan i... [ Continue Reading ]