The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 265

eome simple principles on which we may safely rely for our spiritual guidance. W8 judge- I. THAT DELIBERATE AND DIRECT ANTAOONIBM TO CHRIST IB THE GUILTIBBT OJ' ALL POSITIONS. •• Doing things contrary to . . . Jesus Christ," when these things are clone by an agent who knows what he does, reaches the very summit of iniquity. " This is the condemnaUon, that light is come," etc. When men oppose themselves to Christian truth because " their deeds are evil," because "their craft is in danger," because they hate the light which exposes their sin and robs them of their gains or their enjoyments, then they stand in the very front rank of criminality; they deliberately take up arms against their Mak'er; "They take counsel together, against the Lord, and against bis .Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder," etc.; they say, "This is the Son; come, let ue kill him," etc. Surely God will trouble these " with his sore displeasure " (Ps. ii. 5). II. THAT DELIDERATE NEUTRALITY IS A MOST SERIOUS BIN. When men refrain from taking an active part against the ea.use of Christ and his trnth, doing "nothing con- trary," etc., they shun the very worst possible thing. But when they attempt to take neutral ground, and either (1) reject the claims which Christ makes on their personal subjection (Matt. ix. 9; xi. 28, 29, etc.), or (2) refuse to render the help they can bring to his cause (Matt. xxi. 30; xxv. 18, etc.), then they fall into great con- demnation, and must" bear their iniquity" (see Matt. vii. 26, 27; Luke xiii. 25-28; Judg. v. 23). UL THAT IGNOBA.NCE ORANGES THE OH.AII.ACTER .AND MATEBIALLY AFFECTS THE DEGREE oir GUILT. Clearly Paul was not so guilty in his acts of persecution as be would have been, had he not "thought that he ought to do many things contrary," etc. He himself tells us that this ignorance of his was a great mitigation of the sinfulness of his act (see 1 Tim. i. 13). Our Lord also gave his own Divine sanction to this truth when suffering the pangs of crucifixion (Luke xxiii. 34). 1. Ignorance changes the character of the sin. What Paul was guilty of in those days was not the deliberate attempt to crush the work of a Divine Redeemer; he would have recoiled from so doing, had the act presented itself thns to his mind. His mistake, his condemnation, was that he had not fairly and impartially considered the claims of Jesus of Nazareth ; that he had blindly assumed that his teachers were right, guiltily neglecting all the proofs which the Saviour bad given that he was the Messiah "that should come into the-world." 2. It also greatly reduces its turpitude. Not to have inquired as we should have done-this is wrong and blameworthy. But it is not so serious an offence, in the sight of God or of man, as wilfully and wantonly to conspire against the Lord, and to seek to positively hinder the coming of his kingdom. It may rightly comfort those who, like Paul, have to look back on offences which they have committed, when they can say, with him, "I verily thought," etc.; when it can be said to them, "Brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it" ( eh. iii. 17). IV. THAT ONLY ABSOLUTE IGNORANCE EXONERATES FROM BLAME. It is conceivable that men may be eo circumstanced that their ignorance is absolute, and therefore wholly faultless. In this case there is no guilt. But how seldom is it of this kind! Usually when we do "things contrary" to truth, righteousness, God, we might have known better if we had inquired more promptly or more purely. We may not excuse our- selves if we have kept out of our mind any light we might have admitted. We may apply this to (1) the doctrines we are accepting; (2) the leaders we are encouraging; (::i) the business we are conducting; (4) the family we are training.-C, Vers. 1~18.-Minister and messenger. The charge given by the manifested Saviour to the stricken and awakened Saul is one which, in a true sense, though in smaller measure, we can apply to ourselves. We look at- I. TIIE TWOFOLD RELATION IN WHI0H HE WAS TO STAND. "To make thee a minister and a witness." Paul was to be (1) related to Christ as his servant, and to be (2) related to his fellow-men as their teacher. We are to engage in every Christian work as tho,e who carry with them everywhere a senso of obedie~ to a Divine Master. We are to do and say nothing which we feel that he does not desire us to do or to say. We "re abo to feel that, in regard to our fellows, we are as those who have a Divine message to deliver. If we are content to expound our own views, to establish our own position, or to secure 272 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, [cu. UVL 1-32,