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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A C T S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In the close of the foregoing chapter we had Paul bound, according to
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Agabus's prophecy of the hard usage he should receive from the Jews at
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Jerusalem, yet he had his tongue set at liberty, by the permission the
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chief captain gave him to speak for himself; and so intent he is upon
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using that liberty of speech which is allowed him, to the honour of
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Christ and the service of his interest, that he forgets the bonds he is
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in, makes no mention of them, but speaks of the great things Christ had
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done for him with as much ease and cheerfulness as if nothing had been
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done to ruffle him or put him into disorder. We have here,
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I. His address to the people, and their attention to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. The account he gives of himself.
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1. What a bigoted Jew he had been in the beginning of his time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>.
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2. How he was miraculously converted and brought over to the faith of
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Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:6-11">ver. 6-11</A>.
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3. How he was confirmed and baptized by the ministry of Ananias,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:12-16">ver. 12-16</A>.
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4. How he was afterwards called, by an immediate warrant from heaven,
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to be the apostle of the Gentiles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:17-21">ver. 17-21</A>.
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III. The interruption given him upon this by the rabble, who could not
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bear to hear any thing said in favour of the Gentiles, and the violent
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passion they flew into upon it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:22,23">ver. 22, 23</A>.
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IV. Paul's second rescue out of the hands of the rabble, and the
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further course which the chief captain took to find out the true reason
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of this mighty clamour against Paul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:24,25">ver. 24, 25</A>.
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V. Paul's pleading his privilege as a Roman citizen, by which he was
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exempted from this barbarous method of inquisition,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:26-29">ver. 26-29</A>.
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VI. The chief captain's removing the cause into the high priest's
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court, and Paul's appearing there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:30">ver. 30</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ac22_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's First Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence <I>which I make</I>
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now unto you.
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2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to
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them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Paul had, in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:40">last
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verse of the foregoing chapter</A>,
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gained a great
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point, by commanding so profound a silence after so loud a clamour. Now
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here observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. With what an admirable composure and presence of mind he addresses
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himself to speak. Never was poor man set upon in a more tumultuous
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manner, nor with more rage and fury; and yet, in what he said,
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1. There appears o fright, but his mind is sedate and composed. Thus he
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makes his own words good, <I>None of these things move me;</I> and
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David's
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:6">Ps. iii. 6</A>),
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<I>I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set
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themselves against me round about.</I>
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2. There appears no passion. Though the suggestions against him were
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all frivolous and unjust, though it would have vexed any man alive to
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be charged with profaning the temple just then when he was contriving
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and designing to show his respect to it, yet he breaks out into no
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angry expressions, but is <I>led as a lamb to the slaughter.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. What respectful titles he gives even to those who thus abused him,
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and how humbly he craves their attention: "<I>Men, brethren, and
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fathers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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<I>To you, O men, I call;</I> men, that should hear reason, and be
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ruled by it; men, from whom one may expect humanity. You,
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<I>brethren</I> of the common people; you, <I>fathers</I> of the
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priests." Thus he lets them know that he was one of them, and had not
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renounced his relation to the Jewish nation, but still had a kindness
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and concern for it. Note, Though we must not give flattering titles to
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any, yet we ought to give titles of due respect to all; and those we
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would do good to we should endeavour not to provoke. Though he was
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rescued out of their hands, and was taken under the protection of the
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chief captain, yet he does not fall foul upon them, with, <I>Hear now,
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you rebels;</I> but compliments them with, <I>Men, brethren, and
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fathers.</I> And observe, he does not exhibit a charge against them,
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does not recriminate, Hear now what I have to say against you, but,
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Hear now what I have to say for myself: <I>Hear you my defence;</I> a
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just and reasonable request, for every man that is accused has a right
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to answer for himself, and has not justice done him if his answer be
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not patiently and impartially heard.</P>
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<P>
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III. The language he spoke in, which recommended what he said to the
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auditory; <I>He spoke in the Hebrew tongue,</I> that is, the vulgar
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language of the Jews, which, at this time, was not the pure
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Old-Testament Hebrew, but the Syriac, a dialect of the Hebrew, or
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rather a corruption of it, as the Italian of the Latin. However,
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1. It showed his continued respect to his countrymen, the Jews. Though
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he had conversed so much with the Gentiles, yet he still retained the
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Jews' language, and could talk it with ease; by this it appears he is a
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Jew, <I>for his speech betrayeth him.</I>
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2. What he said was the more generally understood, for that was the
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language every body spoke, and therefore to speak in that language was
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indeed to appeal to the people, by which he might have somewhat to
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insinuate into their affections; and therefore, <I>when they heard that
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he spoke in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence.</I> How can
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it be thought people should give any attention to that which is spoken
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to them in a language they do not understand? The chief captain was
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surprised to hear him speak Greek
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:37"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 37</A>),
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the Jews were surprised to hear him speak Hebrew, and both
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therefore think the better of him. But how would they have been
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surprised if they had enquired, as they ought to have done, and found
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in what variety of tongues <I>the Spirit gave him utterance!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:18">1 Cor. xiv. 18</A>,
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<I>I speak with tongues more than you all.</I> But the truth is, many
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wise and good men are therefore slighted only because they are not
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known.</P>
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<A NAME="Ac22_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac22_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's First Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 I am verily a man <I>which am</I> a Jew, born in Tarsus, <I>a city</I>
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in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel,
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<I>and</I> taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the
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fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
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4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and
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delivering into prisons both men and women.
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5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the
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estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the
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brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there
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bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
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6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come
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nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a
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great light round about me.
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7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me,
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Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
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8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am
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Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
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9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were
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afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
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10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto
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me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee
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of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
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11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being
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led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
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12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a
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good report of all the Jews which dwelt <I>there,</I>
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13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul,
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receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
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14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that
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thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and
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shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
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15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast
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seen and heard.
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16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash
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away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
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17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to
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Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
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18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly
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out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony
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concerning me.
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19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in
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every synagogue them that believed on thee:
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20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also
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was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the
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raiment of them that slew him.
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21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence
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unto the Gentiles.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Paul here gives such an account of himself as might serve not only to
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satisfy the chief captain that he was not that Egyptian he took him to
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be, but the Jews also that he was not that enemy to their church and
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nation, to their law and temple, they took him to be, and that what he
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did in preaching Christ, and particularly in preaching him to the
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Gentiles, he did by a divine commission. He here gives them to
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understand,</P>
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<P>
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I. What his extraction and education were.
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1. That he was one of their own nation, <I>of the stock of Israel, of
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the seed of Abraham, a Hebrew of the Hebrews,</I> not of any obscure
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family, or a renegado of some other nation: "No, <I>I am verily a man
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who is a Jew,</I> <B><I>aner Ioudaios</I></B>--<I>a Jewish man;</I> I
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am a man, and therefore ought not to be treated as a beast; a man who
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is a Jew, not a barbarian; I am a sincere friend to your nation, for I
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am one of it, and should defile my own nest if I should unjustly
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derogate from the honour of your law and your temple."
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2. That he was born in a creditable reputable place, <I>in Tarsus, a
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city of Cilicia,</I> and was by his birth a freeman of that city. He
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was not born in servitude, as some of the Jews of the dispersion, it is
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likely, were; but he was a gentleman born, and perhaps could produce
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his certificate of his freedom in that ancient and honourable city.
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This was, indeed, but a small matter to make any boast of, and yet it
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was needful to be mentioned at this time to those who insolently
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trampled upon him, as if he were to be ranked with the children of
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fools, yea, the children of base men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+30:8">Job xxx. 8</A>.
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3. That he had a learned and liberal education. He was not only a Jew,
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and a gentleman, but a scholar. He <I>was brought up</I> in Jerusalem,
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the principal seat of the Jewish learning, and <I>at the feet of
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Gamaliel,</I> whom they all knew to be an eminent doctor of the Jewish
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law, of which Paul was designed to be himself a teacher; and therefore
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he could not be ignorant of their law, nor be thought to slight it
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because he did not know it. His parents had brought him very young to
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this city, designing him for a Pharisee; and some think his being
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brought up at the feet of Gamaliel intimates, not only that he was one
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of his pupils, but that he was, above any other, diligent and constant
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in attending his lectures, observant of him, and obsequious to him, in
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all he said, as <I>Mary,</I> that <I>sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his
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word.</I>
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4. That he was in his early days a very forward and eminent professor
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of the Jews' religion; his studies and learning were all directed that
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way. So far was he from being principled in his youth with any
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disaffection to the religious usages of the Jews that there was not a
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young man among them who had a greater and more entire veneration for
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them than he had, was more strict in observing them himself, or more
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hot in enforcing them upon others.
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(1.) He was an intelligent professor of their religion, and had a clear
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head. He minded his business at Gamaliel's feet, and was there
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<I>taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the
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fathers.</I> What departures he had made from the law were not owing to
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any confused or mistaken notions of it, for he understood it to a
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nicety, <B><I>kata akribeian</I></B>--<I>according to the most accurate
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and exact method.</I> He was not trained up in the principles of the
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latitudinarians, had nothing in him of a Sadducee, but was of that sect
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that was most studious in the law, kept most close to it, and, to make
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it more strict than it was, added to it the traditions of the elders,
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the law of the fathers, the law which was given to them, and which they
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gave to their children, and so it was handed down to us. Paul had as
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great a value for antiquity, and tradition, and the authority of the
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church, as any of them had; and there was never a Jew of them all that
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understood his religion better than Paul did, or could better give an
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account of it or a reason for it.
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(2.) He was an active professor of their religion, and had a warm
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heart: <I>I was zealous towards God, as you all are this day.</I> Many
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that are very well skilled in the theory of religion are willing to
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leave the practice of it to others, but Paul was as much a zealot as a
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rabbi. He was zealous against every thing that the law prohibited, and
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for every thing that the law enjoined; and this was zeal towards God,
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because he thought it was for the honour of God and the service of his
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interests; and here he compliments his hearers with a candid and
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charitable opinion of them, <I>that they all were this day zealous
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towards God; he bears them record</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:2">Rom. x. 2</A>),
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<I>that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.</I>
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In hating him, and casting him out, they said, <I>Let the Lord be
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glorified</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:5">Isa. lxvi. 5</A>),
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and, though this did by no means justify their rage, yet it enabled
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those that prayed, <I>Father, forgive them,</I> to plead, as Christ
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did, <I>For they know not what they do.</I> And when Paul owns that he
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had been zealous for God in the law of Moses, <I>as they were this
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day,</I> he intimates his hope that they might be zealous for God, in
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Christ, as he was this day.</P>
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<P>
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|
II. What a fiery furious persecutor he had been of the Christian
|
|
religion in the beginning of his time,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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He mentions this to make it the more plainly and evidently to appear
|
|
that the change which was wrought upon him, when he was converted to
|
|
the Christian faith, was purely the effect of a divine power; for he
|
|
was so far from having any previous inclinations to it, or favourable
|
|
opinions of it, that immediately before that sudden change was wrought
|
|
in him he had the utmost antipathy imaginable to Christianity, and was
|
|
filled with rage against it to the last degree. And perhaps he mentions
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|
it to justify God in his present trouble; how unrighteous soever those
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were that persecuted him, God was righteous, who permitted them to do
|
|
it, for time was when he was a persecutor; and he may have a further
|
|
view in it to invite and encourage those people to repent, for he
|
|
himself had been <I>a blasphemer, and a persecutor,</I> and yet
|
|
obtained mercy. Let us view Paul's picture of himself when he was a
|
|
persecutor.
|
|
|
|
1. He hated Christianity with a mortal enmity: <I>I persecuted this way
|
|
unto the death,</I> that is, "Those that walked in this way I aimed, if
|
|
possible, to be the death of." <I>He breathed out slaughter against
|
|
them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:1"><I>ch.</I> ix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
When <I>they were put to death, he gave his voice against them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:10"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, he persecuted not only those that walked in this way, but the way
|
|
itself, Christianity, which was branded as a byway, a sect; he aimed to
|
|
persecute this to the death, to be the ruin of this religion. He
|
|
<I>persecuted it to the death,</I> that is, he could have been willing
|
|
himself to die in his opposition to Christianity, so some understand
|
|
it. He would contentedly have lost his life, and would have thought it
|
|
well laid out, in defence of the laws and traditions of the fathers.
|
|
|
|
2. He did all he could to frighten people from this way, and out of
|
|
it, by <I>binding and delivering into prison both men and women;</I> he
|
|
filled the jails with Christians. Now that he himself was bound, he
|
|
lays a particular stress upon this part of his charge against himself,
|
|
that he had bound the Christians, and carried them to prison; he
|
|
likewise reflects upon it with a special regret that he had imprisoned
|
|
not only the men, but the women, the weaker sex, who ought to be
|
|
treated with particular tenderness and compassion.
|
|
|
|
3. He was employed by the great sanhedrim, the high priest, and all the
|
|
estate of the elders, as an agent for them, in suppressing this new
|
|
sect; so much had he already signalized himself for his zeal against
|
|
it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The high priest can witness for him that he was ready to be employed in
|
|
any service against the Christians. When they heard that many of the
|
|
Jews at Damascus had embraced the Christian faith, to deter others from
|
|
doing the like they resolved to proceed against them with the utmost
|
|
severity, and could not think of a fitter person to be employed in that
|
|
business, nor one more likely to go through with it, than Paul. They
|
|
therefore sent him, and letters by him, to the Jews at Damascus, here
|
|
called <I>the brethren,</I> because they all descended from one common
|
|
stock, and were of one family in religion too, ordering them to be
|
|
assisting to Paul in seizing those among them that had turned
|
|
Christians, and bringing them up prisoners to Jerusalem, in order to
|
|
their being punished as deserters from the faith and worship of the God
|
|
of Israel; and so might either be compelled to retract, or be put to
|
|
death for a terror to others. Thus did Saul make <I>havoc of the
|
|
church,</I> and was in a fair way, if he had gone on awhile, to ruin
|
|
it, and root it out. "Such a one," says Paul, "I was at first, just
|
|
such as you now are. I know the heart of a persecutor, and therefore
|
|
pity you, and pray that you may know the heart of a convert, as God
|
|
soon made me to do. <I>And who was I that I could withstand
|
|
God?</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. In what manner he was converted and made what he now was. It was
|
|
not from any natural or external causes; he did not change his religion
|
|
from an affectation of novelty, for he was then as well affected to
|
|
antiquity as he used to be; nor did it arise from discontent because he
|
|
was disappointed in his preferment, for he was now, more than ever, in
|
|
the way of preferment in the Jewish church; much less could it arise
|
|
from covetousness, or ambition, or any hope of mending his fortune in
|
|
the world by turning Christian, for it was to expose himself to all
|
|
manner of disgrace and trouble; nor had he any conversation with the
|
|
apostles or any other Christians, by whose subtlety and sophistry he
|
|
might be thought to have been wheedled into this change. No, it was the
|
|
Lord's doing, and the circumstances of the doing of it were enough to
|
|
justify him in the change, to all those who believe there is a
|
|
supernatural power; and none can condemn him for it, without reflecting
|
|
upon that divine energy by which he was he rein overruled. He relates
|
|
the story of his conversion here very particularly, as we had it before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:1-19"><I>ch.</I> ix.</A>),
|
|
|
|
aiming to show that it was purely the act of God.
|
|
|
|
1. He was a fully bent upon persecuting the Christians just before
|
|
Christ arrested him as ever. He <I>made his journey, and was come nigh
|
|
to Damascus</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and had no other thought than to execute the cruel design he was sent
|
|
upon; he was not conscious of the least compassionate relentings
|
|
towards the poor Christians, but still represented them to himself as
|
|
heretics, schismatics, and dangerous enemies both to church and state.
|
|
|
|
2. It was <I>a light from heaven</I> that first startled him, <I>a
|
|
great light,</I> which <I>shone suddenly round about him,</I> and the
|
|
Jews knew that God is light, and his angels angels of light, and that
|
|
such a light as this shining at noon, and therefore exceeding that of
|
|
the sun, must be from God. Had it shone in upon him into some private
|
|
room, there might have been a cheat in it, but it shone upon him in the
|
|
open road, at high noon, and so strongly <I>that it struck him to the
|
|
ground</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and all <I>that were with him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:14"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They could not deny but that surely the Lord was in this light.
|
|
|
|
3. It was a voice <I>from heaven</I> that first begat in him awful
|
|
thoughts of Jesus Christ, of whom before he had had nothing but hateful
|
|
spiteful thoughts. The voice called to him by name, to distinguish him
|
|
from <I>those that journeyed with him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
|
|
me?</I> And when he asked, <I>Who art thou, Lord?</I> it was answered,
|
|
<I>I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
By which it appeared that this Jesus of Nazareth, whom they also were
|
|
now persecuting, was one that spoke from heaven, and they knew it was
|
|
dangerous resisting one that did so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:25">Heb. xii. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. Lest it should be objected, "How came this light and voice to work
|
|
such a change upon him, and not upon those that journeyed with him?"
|
|
(though, it is very probable, it had a good effect upon them, and that
|
|
they thereupon became Christians), he observes <I>that his fellow
|
|
travellers saw indeed the light, and were afraid</I> they should be
|
|
consumed with fire from heaven, their own consciences, perhaps, now
|
|
telling them that the way they were in was not good, but like Balaam's
|
|
when he was going to curse Israel, and therefore they might expect to
|
|
meet an angel with a flaming glittering sword; but, though the light
|
|
made them afraid, they heard not the voice of him that spoke to Paul,
|
|
that is, they did not distinctly hear the words. Now faith comes by
|
|
hearing, and therefore that change was now presently wrought upon him
|
|
that heard the words, and heard them directed to himself, which was not
|
|
wrought upon those who only saw the light; and yet it might afterwards
|
|
be wrought upon them too.
|
|
|
|
5. He assures them that when he was thus startled he referred himself
|
|
entirely to a divine guidance; he did not hereupon presently cry out,
|
|
"Well, I will be a Christian," but, "<I>What shall I do, Lord?</I> Let
|
|
the same voice from heaven that has stopped me in the wrong way guide
|
|
me into the right way,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Lord, tell me what I shall do, and I will do it." And immediately he
|
|
had directions to go to Damascus, and there he should hear further from
|
|
him that now spoke to him: "No more needs to be said from heaven,
|
|
<I>there it shall be told thee,</I> by a man like thyself, in the name
|
|
of him that now speaks to thee, <I>all things which are appointed for
|
|
thee to do.</I>" The extraordinary ways of divine revelation, by
|
|
visions, and voices, and the appearance of angels, were designed, both
|
|
in the Old Testament and in the New, only to introduce and establish
|
|
the ordinary method by the scriptures and a standing ministry, and
|
|
therefore were generally superseded when these were settled. The angel
|
|
did not preach to Cornelius himself, but bade him send for Peter; so
|
|
the voice here tells not Paul what he shall do, but bids him go to
|
|
Damascus, and there it shall be told him.
|
|
|
|
6. As a demonstration of the greatness of that light which fastened
|
|
upon him, he tells them of the immediate effect it had upon his
|
|
eye-sight
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I could not see for the glory of that light.</I> It struck him blind
|
|
for the present. <I>Nimium sensibile lædit sensum--Its radiance
|
|
dazzled him.</I> Condemned sinners are struck blind, as the Sodomites
|
|
and Egyptians were, by the power of darkness, and it is a lasting
|
|
blindness, like that of the unbelieving Jews; but convinced sinners are
|
|
struck blind, as Paul here was, not by darkness, but by light: they are
|
|
for the present brought to be at a loss within themselves, but it is in
|
|
order to their being enlightened, as the putting of clay upon the eyes
|
|
of the blind man was the designed method of his cure. Those that were
|
|
with Paul had not the light so directly darted into their faces as Paul
|
|
had unto his, and therefore they were not blinded, as he was; yet,
|
|
considering the issue, who would not rather have chosen his lot than
|
|
theirs? They, having their sight, led <I>Paul by the hand into the
|
|
city.</I> Paul, being a Pharisee, was proud of his spiritual eyesight.
|
|
The Pharisees said, <I>Are we blind also?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+9:40">John ix. 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, they were confident <I>that they themselves were guides to the
|
|
blind,</I> and <I>lights to those that were in darkness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:19">Rom. ii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now Paul was thus struck with bodily blindness to make him sensible of
|
|
his spiritual blindness, and his mistake concerning himself, when he
|
|
was <I>alive without the law,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+7:9">Rom. vii. 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. How he was confirmed in the change he had made, and further
|
|
directed what he should do, by Ananias who lived at Damascus.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The character here given of Ananias. He was not a man that was any
|
|
way prejudiced against the Jewish nation or religion, but was himself
|
|
<I>a devout man according to the law;</I> if not a Jew by birth, yet
|
|
one that had been proselyted to the Jewish religion, and therefore
|
|
called a devout man, and thence advanced further to the faith of
|
|
Christ; and he conducted himself so well that he had a <I>good report
|
|
of all the Jews that dwelt at Damascus.</I> This was the first
|
|
Christian that Paul had any friendly communication with, and it was not
|
|
likely that he should instil into him any such notions as they
|
|
suspected him to espouse, injurious to the law or to this holy
|
|
place.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The cure immediately wrought by him upon Paul's eyes, which miracle
|
|
was to confirm Ananias's mission to Paul, and to ratify all that he
|
|
should afterwards say to him. He <I>came to him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
and, to assure him that he came to him from Christ (the very same who
|
|
had torn and would heal him, had smitten, but would bind him up, had
|
|
taken away his sight, but would restore it again, with advantage), he
|
|
<I>stood by him, and said, Brother Saul, receive thy sight.</I> Power
|
|
went along with this word, and <I>the same hour,</I> immediately, he
|
|
recovered his sight, and <I>looked up upon him,</I> ready to receive
|
|
from him the instructions sent by him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The declaration which Ananias makes to him of the favour, the
|
|
peculiar favour, which the Lord Jesus designed him above any other.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) In the present manifestation of himself to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The God of our fathers has chosen thee.</I> This powerful call is
|
|
the result of a particular choice; his calling God the God of our
|
|
fathers intimates that Ananias was himself a Jew by birth, that
|
|
observed the law of the fathers, and lived upon the promise made unto
|
|
the fathers; and he gives a reason why he said <I>Brother Saul,</I>
|
|
when he speaks of God as the God of our fathers: <I>This God of our
|
|
fathers has chosen thee that thou shouldst,</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>Know his will,</I> the will of his precept that is to be done
|
|
by thee, the will of his providence that is to be done concerning thee.
|
|
He hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know it in a more peculiar
|
|
manner; not of man nor by man, but immediately by <I>the revelation of
|
|
Christ,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+1:1,2">Gal. i. 1, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those whom God hath chosen he hath chosen to know his will, and to do
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>That thou shouldst see that Just One, and shouldst hear the
|
|
voice of his mouth,</I> and so shouldst know his will immediately from
|
|
himself. This was what Paul was, in a particular manner, chosen to
|
|
above others; it was a distinguishing favour, that he should see Christ
|
|
here upon earth after his ascension into heaven. Stephen saw him
|
|
<I>standing at the right hand of God,</I> but Paul saw him standing at
|
|
his right hand. This honour none had but Paul. Stephen saw him, but we
|
|
do not find that he heard the voice of his mouth, as Paul did, who
|
|
says, <I>he was last of all seen of me, as of one born out of due
|
|
time,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:8">1 Cor. xv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ is here called <I>that Just One;</I> for he is Jesus Christ the
|
|
righteous, and suffered wrongfully. Observe, Those whom God has chosen
|
|
to know his will must have an eye to Christ, and must see him, and hear
|
|
the voice of his mouth; for it is by him that God has made known his
|
|
will, his good-will to us, and he has said, <I>Hear you him.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) In the after-manifestation of himself by him to others
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt be his witness,</I> not only a monument of his grace, as
|
|
a pillar may be, but a witness <I>viva voce--by word of mouth;</I> thou
|
|
shalt publish his gospel, as that which thou hast experienced the power
|
|
of, and been delivered into, the mould of; <I>thou shalt be his witness
|
|
unto all men,</I> Gentiles as well as Jews, <I>of what thou hast seen
|
|
and heard,</I> now at the very first." And finding Paul so particularly
|
|
relating the manner of his conversation in his apologies for himself,
|
|
here and
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:1-32">
|
|
<I>ch.</I> xxvi.</A>,
|
|
|
|
we have reason to think that he frequently related the same narrative
|
|
in his preaching for the conversion of others; he told them what God
|
|
had done for his soul, to encourage them to hope that he would do
|
|
something for their souls.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The counsel and encouragement he gave him to join himself to the
|
|
Lord Jesus by baptism
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Arise, and be baptized,</I> He had in his circumcision been given up
|
|
to God, but he must now by baptism be given up to God in Christ--must
|
|
embrace the Christian religion and the privileges of it, in submission
|
|
to the precepts of it. This must now be done immediately upon his
|
|
conversion, and so was added to his circumcision: but to the seed of
|
|
the faithful it comes in the room of it; for it is, as that was to
|
|
Abraham and his believing seed, <I>a seal of the righteousness which is
|
|
by faith.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The great gospel privilege which by baptism we have sealed to us
|
|
is the remission of sins: <I>Be baptized and wash away thy sins;</I>
|
|
that is, "Receive the comfort of the pardon of thy sins in the through
|
|
Jesus Christ and lay hold of his righteousness for that purpose, and
|
|
receive power against sin for the mortifying of thy corruption;" for
|
|
our being washed includes our being both justified and sanctified,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:11">1 Cor. vi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Be baptized, and rest not in the sign, but make sure of the thing
|
|
signified, the putting away of the filth of sin.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The great gospel duty which by our baptism we are bound to is
|
|
<I>to call on the name of the Lord, the Lord Jesus;</I> to acknowledge
|
|
him to be our Lord and our God, and to apply to him accordingly; to
|
|
give honour to him, to put all our petitions in his hand. To <I>call on
|
|
the name of Jesus Christ our Lord</I> (Son of David, have mercy on us)
|
|
is the periphrasis of a Christian,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:2">1 Cor. i. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must <I>wash away our sins, calling on the name of the Lord;</I>
|
|
that is, we must seek for the pardon of our sins in Christ's name, and
|
|
in dependence on him and his righteousness. In prayer, we must not any
|
|
longer call God the God of Abraham, but the Father of our Lord Jesus
|
|
Christ, and in him our Father; in every prayer, our eye must be to
|
|
Christ.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must do this quickly. <I>Why tarriest thou?</I> Our covenanting
|
|
with God in Christ is needful work, that must not be deferred. The case
|
|
is so plain that it is needless to deliberate; and the hazard so great
|
|
that it is folly to delay. Why should not that be done at the present
|
|
time that must be done some time, or we are undone?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. How he was commissioned to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
|
|
This was the great thing for which they were so angry at him, and
|
|
therefore it was requisite he should for this, in a special manner,
|
|
produce a divine warrant; and here he does it. This commission he did
|
|
not receive presently upon his conversion, for this was <I>at
|
|
Jerusalem,</I> whither he did not go till <I>three years after,</I> or
|
|
more
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+1:18">Gal. i. 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
and whether it was then, or afterwards, that he had this vision here
|
|
spoken of, we are not certain. But, to reconcile them, if possible, to
|
|
his preaching the gospel among the Gentiles, he tells them,
|
|
|
|
1. That he received his orders to do it when he was at prayer, begging
|
|
of God to appoint him his work and to show him the course he should
|
|
steer; and (which was a circumstance that would have some weight with
|
|
those he was now speaking to) he was <I>at prayer in the temple,</I>
|
|
which was to be called <I>a house of prayer for all people;</I> not
|
|
only in which all people should pray, but in which all people should be
|
|
prayed for. Now as Paul's praying in the temple was an evidence,
|
|
contrary to their malicious suggestion, that he had a veneration for
|
|
the temple, though he did not make an idol of it as they did; so God's
|
|
giving him this commission there in the temple was an evidence that the
|
|
sending him to the Gentiles would be no prejudice to the temple, unless
|
|
the Jews by their infidelity made it so. Now it would be a great
|
|
satisfaction to Paul afterwards, in the execution of this commission,
|
|
to reflect upon it that he received it when he was at prayer.
|
|
|
|
2. He received it in a vision. He fell <I>into a trance</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
his external senses, for the present, locked up; he was in an ecstasy,
|
|
as when he was <I>caught up into the third heaven,</I> and was not at
|
|
that time sensible whether he was <I>in the body or out of the
|
|
body.</I> In this trance he saw Jesus Christ, not with the eyes of his
|
|
body, as at his conversion, but represented to the eye of his mind
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I saw him saying unto me.</I> Our eye must be upon Christ when we
|
|
are receiving the law from his mouth; and we must not only hear him
|
|
speak, but see him speaking to us.
|
|
|
|
3. Before Christ gave him a commission to go to the Gentiles, he told
|
|
him it was to no purpose for him to think of doing any good at
|
|
Jerusalem; so that they must not blame him, but themselves, if he be
|
|
sent to the Gentiles. Paul came to Jerusalem full of hopes that, by the
|
|
grace of God, he might be instrumental to bring those to the faith of
|
|
Christ who had stood it out against the ministry of the other apostles;
|
|
and perhaps this was what he was now praying for, that he, having had
|
|
his education at Jerusalem and being well known there, might be
|
|
employed in gathering the children of Jerusalem to Christ that were not
|
|
yet gathered, which he thought he had particular advantages for doing
|
|
of. But Christ crosses the measures he had laid: "<I>Make haste,</I>"
|
|
says he, "<I>and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem;</I>" for, though
|
|
thou thinkest thyself more likely to work upon them than others, thou
|
|
wilt find they are more prejudiced against thee than against any other,
|
|
and therefore "<I>will not receive thy testimony concerning me.</I>" As
|
|
God knows before who will receive the gospel, so he knows who will
|
|
reject it.
|
|
|
|
4. Paul, notwithstanding this, renewed his petition that he might be
|
|
employed at Jerusalem, because they knew, better than any did, what he
|
|
had been before his conversion, and therefore must ascribe so great a
|
|
change in him to the power of almighty grace, and consequently give the
|
|
greater regard to his testimony; thus he reasoned, both with himself
|
|
and with the Lord, and thought he reasoned justly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lord,</I>" says he, "<I>they know</I> that I was once of their
|
|
mind, that I was as bitter an enemy as any of them to such as believed
|
|
on thee, that I irritated the civil power against them, and
|
|
<I>imprisoned them,</I> and turned the edge of the spiritual power
|
|
against them too, and <I>beat them in every synagogue.</I>" And
|
|
therefore they will not impute my preaching Christ to education nor to
|
|
any prepossession in his favour (as they do that of other ministers),
|
|
but will the more readily regard what I say because they know I have
|
|
myself been one of them: particularly in Stephen's case; they know that
|
|
when he was stoned I was standing by, I was aiding and abetting and
|
|
<I>consenting to his death,</I> and in token of this <I>kept the
|
|
clothes of those that stoned him.</I> Now "Lord," says he, "if I appear
|
|
among them, preaching the doctrine that Stephen preached and suffered
|
|
for, they will no doubt receive my testimony." "No," says Christ to
|
|
him, "they will not; but will be more exasperated against thee as a
|
|
deserter from, than against others whom they look upon only as
|
|
strangers to, their constitution."
|
|
|
|
5. Paul's petition for a warrant to preach the gospel at Jerusalem is
|
|
overruled, and he has peremptory orders to go among the Gentiles
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Depart, for I will send thee far hence, unto the Gentiles.</I> Note,
|
|
God often gives gracious answers to the prayers of his people, not in
|
|
the thing itself that they pray for, but in something better. Abraham
|
|
prays, <I>O that Ishmael may live before thee;</I> and God hears him
|
|
for Isaac. So Paul here prays that he may be an instrument of
|
|
converting souls at Jerusalem: "No," says Christ, "but thou shalt be
|
|
employed among the Gentiles, and <I>more shall be the children of the
|
|
desolate than those of the married wife.</I>" It is God that appoints
|
|
his labourers both their day and their place, and it is fit they should
|
|
acquiesce in his appointment, though it may cross their own
|
|
inclinations. Paul hankers after Jerusalem: to be a preacher there was
|
|
the summit of his ambition; but Christ designs him greater preferment.
|
|
He shall not enter into other men's labours (as the other apostles did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:38">John iv. 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
but shall break up new ground, and <I>preach the gospel where Christ
|
|
was not named,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+15:20">Rom. xv. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
So often does Providence contrive better for us than we for ourselves;
|
|
to the guidance of that we must therefore refer ourselves. <I>He shall
|
|
choose our inheritance for us.</I> Observe, Paul shall not go to preach
|
|
among the Gentiles without a commission: <I>I will send thee.</I> And,
|
|
if Christ send him, his Spirit will go along with him, he will stand by
|
|
him, will carry him on, and bear him out, and give him to see the fruit
|
|
of his labours. Let not Paul set his heart upon Jerusalem, for he must
|
|
be sent far hence; his call must be quite another way, and his work of
|
|
another kind. And it might be a mitigation of the offence of this to
|
|
the Jews that he did not set up a Gentile church in the neighbouring
|
|
nations; others did this in their immediate vicinity; he was sent to
|
|
places at a distance, a vast way off, where what he did could not be
|
|
thought an annoyance to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now, if they would lay all this together, surely they would see that
|
|
they had no reason to be angry with Paul for preaching among the
|
|
Gentiles, or construe it as an act of ill-will to his own nation, for
|
|
he was compelled to it, contrary to his own mind, by an overruling
|
|
command from heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac22_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Paul's First Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and <I>then</I> lifted
|
|
up their voices, and said, Away with such a <I>fellow</I> from the
|
|
earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
|
|
23 And as they cried out, and cast off <I>their</I> clothes, and
|
|
threw dust into the air,
|
|
24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the
|
|
castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he
|
|
might know wherefore they cried so against him.
|
|
25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the
|
|
centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man
|
|
that is a Roman, and uncondemned?
|
|
26 When the centurion heard <I>that,</I> he went and told the chief
|
|
captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a
|
|
Roman.
|
|
27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art
|
|
thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
|
|
28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I
|
|
this freedom. And Paul said, But I was <I>free</I> born.
|
|
29 Then straightway they departed from him which should have
|
|
examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he
|
|
knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
|
|
30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty
|
|
wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from <I>his</I>
|
|
bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to
|
|
appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Paul was going on with this account of himself, had shown them his
|
|
commission to preach among the Gentiles without any peevish reflections
|
|
upon the Jews, and we may suppose designed next to show how he was
|
|
afterwards, by a special direction of the Holy Ghost at Antioch,
|
|
separated to this service, how tender he was of the Jews, how
|
|
respectful to them, and how careful to give them the precedency in all
|
|
places whither he came, and to unite Jews and Gentiles in one body; and
|
|
then to show how wonderfully God had owned him, and what good service
|
|
had been done to the interest of God's kingdom among men in general,
|
|
without damage to any of the true interests of the Jewish church in
|
|
particular. But, whatever he designs to say, they resolve he shall say
|
|
no more to them: <I>They gave him audience to this word.</I> Hitherto
|
|
they had heard him with patience and some attention. But when he speaks
|
|
of being sent to the Gentiles, though it was what Christ himself said
|
|
to him, they cannot bear it, not so much as to hear the Gentiles named,
|
|
such an enmity had they to them, and such a jealousy of them. Upon the
|
|
mention of this, they have no manner of patience, but forget all rules
|
|
of decency and equity; thus were they <I>provoked to jealousy by those
|
|
that were no people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:19">Rom. x. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now here we are told how furious and outrageous the people were against
|
|
Paul, for mentioning the Gentiles as taken into the cognizance of
|
|
divine grace, and so justifying his preaching among them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. They interrupted him, by lifting up their voice, to put him into
|
|
confusion, and that nobody might hear a word he said. Galled
|
|
consciences kick at the least touch; and those who are resolved not to
|
|
be rules by reason commonly resolve not to hear it if they can help it.
|
|
And the spirit of enmity against the gospel of Christ commonly shows
|
|
itself in silencing the ministers of Christ and his gospel, and
|
|
stopping their mouths, as the Jews did Paul's here. Their fathers had
|
|
said to the best of seers, <I>See not,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:10">Isa. xxx. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
And so they to the best of speakers, <I>Speak not. Forbear, wherefore
|
|
shouldst thou be smitten?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:16">2 Chron. xxv. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They clamoured against him as one that was unworthy of life, much
|
|
more of liberty. Without weighing the arguments he had urged in his own
|
|
defence, or offering to make any answer to them, they cried out with a
|
|
confused noise, "<I>Away with such a fellow</I> as this <I>from the
|
|
earth,</I> who pretends to have a commission to preach to the Gentiles;
|
|
why, <I>it is not fit that he should live.</I>" Thus the men that have
|
|
been the greatest blessings of their age have been represented not only
|
|
as the burdens of the earth, but the plague of their generation. He
|
|
that was worthy of the greatest honours of life is condemned as not
|
|
worthy of life itself. See what different sentiments God and men have
|
|
of good men, and yet they both agree in this that they are not likely
|
|
to live long in this world. Paul says of the godly Jews that they were
|
|
men of <I>whom the world was not worthy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:38">Heb. xi. 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
And therefore they must be removed, that the world may be justly
|
|
punished with the loss of them. The ungodly Jews here say of Paul that
|
|
it was not fit he should live; and therefore he must be removed, that
|
|
the world may be eased of the burden of him, as of the two witnesses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:10">Rev. xi. 10</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They went stark mad against Paul, and against the chief captain
|
|
for not killing him immediately at their request, or throwing him as a
|
|
pry into their teeth, that they might devour him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>);
|
|
|
|
as men whose reason was quite lost in passion, they cried out like
|
|
roaring lions or raging bears, and howled like the evening wolves; they
|
|
<I>cast off their clothes</I> with fury and violence, as much as to say
|
|
that thus they would tear him if they could but come at him. Or,
|
|
rather, they thus showed how ready they were to stone him; those that
|
|
stoned Stephen threw off their clothes,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or, they <I>rent their clothes,</I> as if he had spoken blasphemy; and
|
|
<I>threw dust into the air,</I> in detestation of it; or signifying how
|
|
ready they were to throw stones at Paul, if the chief captain would
|
|
have permitted them. But why should we go about to give a reason for
|
|
these experiences of fury, which they themselves could not account for?
|
|
All they intended was to make the chief captain sensible how much they
|
|
were enraged and exasperated at Paul, so that he could not do any thing
|
|
to gratify them more than to let them have their will against him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The chief captain took care for his safety, by ordering him to be
|
|
brought into the castle,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
A prison sometimes has been a protection to good men from popular rage.
|
|
Paul's hour was not yet come, he had not finished his testimony, and
|
|
therefore God raised up one that took care of him, when none of his
|
|
friends durst appear on his behalf. <I>Grant not, O Lord, the desire
|
|
of the wicked.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He ordered him the torture, to force from him a confession of some
|
|
flagrant crimes which had provoked the people to such an uncommon
|
|
violence against him. <I>He ordered that he should be examined by
|
|
scourging</I> (as now in some countries by the rack), that <I>he might
|
|
know wherefore they cried so against him.</I> Herein he did not proceed
|
|
fairly; he should have singled out some of the clamorous tumultuous
|
|
complainants, and taken them into the castle as breakers of the peace,
|
|
and should have examined them, and by scourging too, what they had to
|
|
lay to the charge of a man that could give so good an account of
|
|
himself, and did not appear to have done any thing worthy of death or
|
|
of bonds. It was proper to ask them, but not at all proper to ask Paul,
|
|
<I>wherefore they cried so against him.</I> He could tell that he had
|
|
given them no just cause to do it; if there were any cause, let them
|
|
produce it. No man is bound to accuse himself, though he be guilty,
|
|
much less ought he to be compelled to accuse himself when he is
|
|
innocent. Surely the chief captain did not know the Jewish nation when
|
|
he concluded that he must needs have done something very bad whom they
|
|
cried out against. Had they not just thus cried out against our Lord
|
|
Jesus, <I>Crucify him, crucify him,</I> when they had not one word to
|
|
say in answer to the judge's question, <I>Why, what evil has he
|
|
done?</I> Is this a fair or just occasion to scourge Paul, that a rude
|
|
tumultuous mob cry out against him, but cannot tell why or wherefore,
|
|
and therefore he must be forced to tell?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Paul pleaded his privilege as a Roman citizen, by which he was
|
|
exempted from all trials and punishments of this nature
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As they bound him with thongs,</I> or leathern bands, to the
|
|
whipping post, as they used to bind the vilest of malefactors in
|
|
bridewell from whom they would extort a confession, he made no outcry
|
|
against the injustice of their proceedings against an innocent man, but
|
|
very mildly let them understand the illegality of their proceedings
|
|
against him as a citizen of Rome, which he had done once before at
|
|
Philippi after he had been scourged
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:37"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
but here he makes use of it for prevention. He <I>said to the centurion
|
|
that stood by,</I> "You know the law; pray <I>is it lawful for you</I>
|
|
who are yourselves Romans to <I>scourge a man that is a Roman, and
|
|
uncondemned?</I>" The manner of his speaking plainly intimates what a
|
|
holy security and serenity of mind this good man enjoyed, not disturbed
|
|
either with anger or fear in the midst of all those indignities that
|
|
were done him, and the danger he was in. The Romans had a law (it was
|
|
called <I>lex Sempronia</I>), that if any magistrate did chastise or
|
|
condemn a freeman of Rome, <I>indicta causa--without hearing him speak
|
|
for himself, and deliberating upon the whole of his case,</I> he should
|
|
be liable to the sentence of the people, who were very jealous of their
|
|
liberties. It is indeed the privilege of every man not to have wrong
|
|
done him, except it be proved he has done wrong; as it is of every
|
|
Englishman by <I>Magna Charta</I> not to be dis-seized of his life or
|
|
freehold, but by a verdict of twelve men of his peers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. The chief captain was surprised at this, and put into a fright. He
|
|
had taken Paul to be a vagabond Egyptian, and wondered he could speak
|
|
Greek
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:37"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
but is much more surprised now he finds that he is as good a gentleman
|
|
as himself. How many men of great worth and merit are despised because
|
|
they are not known, are looked upon and treated as the offscouring of
|
|
all things, when those that count them so, if they knew their true
|
|
character, would own them to be of the excellent ones of the earth! The
|
|
chief captain had centurions, under-officers, attending him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:32"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
One of these reports this matter to the chief captain
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman,</I> and what
|
|
indignity is done to him will be construed an offence against the
|
|
majesty of the Roman people, as they loved to speak. They all knew what
|
|
a value was put upon this privilege of the Roman citizens. Tully extols
|
|
it in one of his orations against Verres, <I>O nomen dulce libertatis,
|
|
O jus eximium nostræ civitatis! O lex Porcia! O leges
|
|
Semproniæ; facinus est vincere Romanum civem, scelus verberare--O
|
|
Liberty! I love thy charming name; and these our Porcian and Sempronian
|
|
laws, how admirable! It is a crime to bind a Roman citizen, but an
|
|
unpardonable one to beat him.</I> "Therefore" (says the centurion) "let
|
|
us look to ourselves; if this man be a Roman, and we do him any
|
|
indignity, we shall be in danger to lose our commissions at least."
|
|
Now,
|
|
|
|
1. The chief captain would be satisfied of the truth of this from his
|
|
own mouth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Tell me, art thou a Roman?</I> Art thou entitled to the privileges
|
|
of a Roman citizen?" "Yes," says Paul, "<I>I am;</I>" and perhaps
|
|
produced some ticket or instrument which proved it; for otherwise they
|
|
would scarcely have taken his word.
|
|
|
|
2. The chief captain very freely compares notes with him upon this
|
|
matter, and it appears that the privilege Paul had as a Roman citizen
|
|
was of the two more honourable than the colonel's; for the colonel owns
|
|
that his was purchased: "I am a freeman of Rome; but <I>with a great
|
|
sum obtained I this freedom,</I> it cost me dear, how came you by it?"
|
|
"Why truly," says Paul, "<I>I was free-born.</I>" Some think he became
|
|
entitled to this freedom by the place of his birth, as a native of
|
|
Tarsus, a city privileged by the emperor with the same privileges that
|
|
Rome itself enjoyed; others rather think it was by his father or
|
|
grandfather having served in the war between Cæsar and Antony, or
|
|
some other of the civil wars of Rome, and being for some signal piece
|
|
of service rewarded with a freedom of the city, and so Paul came to be
|
|
free-born; and here he pleads it for his own preservation, for which
|
|
end not only we may but we ought to use all lawful means.
|
|
|
|
3. This put an immediate stop to Paul's trouble. Those that were
|
|
appointed to examine him by scourging quitted the spot; they
|
|
<I>departed from him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
lest they should run themselves into a snare. Nay, and the colonel
|
|
himself, though we may suppose him to have a considerable interest, was
|
|
afraid when he heard he was a Roman, because, though he had not beaten
|
|
him, yet he had bound him in order to his being beaten. Thus many are
|
|
restrained from evil practices by the fear of man who would not be
|
|
restrained from them by the fear of God. See here the benefit of human
|
|
laws and magistracy, and what reason we have to be thankful to God for
|
|
them; for even when they have given no countenance nor special
|
|
protection to God's people and ministers, yet, by the general support
|
|
of equity and fair dealing between man and man, they have served to
|
|
check the rage of wicked and unreasonable illegal men, who otherwise
|
|
would know no bounds, and to say, <I>Hitherto it shall come, but no
|
|
further; here shall its proud waves by stayed.</I> And therefore this
|
|
service we owe to all in authority, to pray for them, because this
|
|
benefit we have reason to expect from them, whether we have it or no,
|
|
as long as we are quiet and peaceable--to live <I>quiet and peaceable
|
|
lives in all godliness and honesty,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+2:1,2">1 Tim. ii. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
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4. The governor, the next day, brought Paul before the sanhedrim,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
He first <I>loosed him from his bands,</I> that those might not
|
|
prejudge his cause, and that he might not be charged with having
|
|
pinioned a Roman citizen, and then summoned the chief priests and all
|
|
their council to come together to take cognizance of Paul's case, for
|
|
he found it to be a matter of religion, and therefore looked upon them
|
|
to be the most proper judges of it. Gallio in this case discharged
|
|
Paul; finding it to be a matter of their law, he drove the prosecutors
|
|
from the judgement-seat
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:16"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and would not concern himself at all in it; but this Roman, who was a
|
|
military man, kept Paul in custody, and appealed from the rabble to the
|
|
general assembly. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We may hope that hereby he intended Paul's safety, as thinking, if
|
|
he were an innocent and inoffensive man, though the multitude might be
|
|
incensed against him, yet the chief priests and elders would do him
|
|
justice, and clear him; for they were, or should be, men of learning
|
|
and consideration, and their court governed by rules of equity. When
|
|
the prophet could find no good among the poorer sort of people, he
|
|
concluded that it was because they <I>knew not the way of the Lord, nor
|
|
the judgments of their God,</I> and promised himself that he should
|
|
speed better among the great men, as the chief captain here did, but
|
|
soon found himself disappointed there: these have <I>altogether broken
|
|
the yoke, and burst the bonds,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:4,5">Jer. v. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) That which he is here said to aim at is the gratifying of his own
|
|
curiosity: He <I>would have known the certainty wherefore he was
|
|
accused of the Jews.</I> Had he sent for Paul to his own chamber, and
|
|
talked freely with him, he might soon have learned from him that which
|
|
would have done more than satisfy his enquiry, and which might have
|
|
persuaded him to be a Christian. But it is too common for great men to
|
|
affect to set that at a distance from them which might awaken their
|
|
consciences, and to desire to have no more of the knowledge of God's
|
|
ways than may serve them to talk of.</P>
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