The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 330

of thinking" characteristic of Christ's disciples. With a large liborty thore are woll- dcfincd lines beyond which the thinking, being unloyal to Christ, is unworthy of the Christian name. ll. A WAY OF FEELING. Every trne disciple is distinguished by his admiration for, his trnst in, and his love to, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the early Churoh the loyalty and the love were eo strong that the disciples could endure shame and death for his sake. And still our "way of feeling" about Christ should mark us off from all the world; men should "take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus," that be has won our very hearts, and that to us henceforth "to live is Christ." Impress the important bearing of sustained high feeling on the power and joy of the Christian life. III.. A_ WAY OF WORKING. Besides the general modes of working characteristic of Chnstmns, for the glory of God and the good of meu, attention should be given to Stephen's way of working against mere formalism an<l ritualism, nod in favour of spiritual religion ; and the need for similar " ways of working" in each recurring over- civilized period should be impressed. • IV. A WAY OF LIVING. lly their fruits of godliness and charity the early Christians were known. 'l'he Christian "way" is a "way of holiness," not of mere separateness, but of consecration; a way of laying 11.ll possessions or attaiuments on God's alt.nr, an<l a way of using all powers and opportunities for God's service.-R. T. Ver. 6.-The power of a revelation. There are solemn seasons in the life of every man, e.g. birthdays, times of sickness, first leaving home. Of all such days, perhaps the most solemn, the one with the wider consequences, is the time of our conversion. ]t is not usual for the Scriptures to give us-what we find in modern biographies- detailed accounts of the precise experiences of such times ; e.g. of Lydia we only know that "the Lord opened her heart," and of the jailor at Philippi that, in sudden alarm, he cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" We may, therefore, ask why so full an account is given us of the experience of Saul of Tarsus? The answer is found in his subsequent prominence as a Christian missionary, and in the necessity for assuring the fact that so bitter a persecutor and so zealous a Pharisee was really changed into a disciple. Some have further suggested that he was intended, in the Divine providence, to take the place from which Judas by transgression fell, and that it must be publicly known how be bad received his direct commission from the risen Lord, if he was to be recognized as one of the apostolic band. The conversion of men is, in mode, as varied as are their minds, characters, and circumstances. Yet there are some essential things which may be well stndied in connection with this narrative of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. L SAUL'S PREPAl!.ATION FOB BEOEIVING A Drvn."E REVELATION. Every true con- version is effected by a revelation of God to the souL It need not be a visible revela- tion, such as was suitable to other times. It must be an awakening of the soul to the apprehension of Divine things, and a direct dealing of God with the awakened soul. This cardinal truth must never be lost sight of in our active use of Christian means aud :J."'encies. The unregenerate man does not know God; he cannot apprehend the hol-iness, the claim, or the love of God. These must be unfolded to him by revelation. As illus- trations of what is meant by" conversion by revelation," see the vision of God to Jacob at Bethel, and the voice of God to Samuel in the night hours, when he was but a youth. But the capacity to receive a Divine revelation depends on previous preparations, and we have to inquire-How was Saul of Tarsus prepared? In answer the following things must be carefully treated :-1. His education and early associations as a Jew and as a Pharisee. This involved considerable knowledge of Scripture, and a theory of the pos- sibility of Divinl:l communications with the individual. 2. His naturally impulsive and impetuous didposition, which led him to undertake_ t~ings in an intense way, but left him exposed to the peril ~f sudden change of op1mon and _conduc~, a~d t~ ~he danger of giving up an enterpnse as suddenly as ~e bad begun 1t. TlllS d1spos1t10n prepared him to be influenced by the sudden surprise on the Damascus road. 3. The ideas about Jesus Christ which he gained from the party at Jerusalem to which he belon~e<l. 'l'hose ideas rested altogether on this proposition : "'l'he impostor Jesus is not riiien from the d,ead,," If it could be proved or shown that he was, then the whole OJl. I:I 1-411.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 327