Saul of Tarsus Converted.—Acts 9:1-20

Notes

"It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." These words of Jesus throw light on Saul's career, if they do not reveal the secret of his zealous persecution. They show that he was fighting against conviction. He was conscientious. Acts 24:16. He was zealous for God, although not according to knowledge. He regarded the new sect as dangerous to the cause of God; and, not knowing the liberty of the gospel, he supposed that force might be used in the matters of religion. But he had heard Stephen's discourse, and a conviction that these persecuted ones might be right would persistently thrust itself upon him. This conviction he regarded as a sinful thought, and, shocked that he could for a moment harbor such a thought, he would redouble his efforts against the church. So at last Christ himself appeared to him,\* and Saul at once yielded. This should be a lesson to us to be careful how we accuse those who oppose the truth, of being dishonest. They may, like Paul, be kicking against the pricks. If we say that these have heard the truth, we must remember that Saul had also, and that it had been preached with a power more than human. It would be difficult for any man to be more bitter against the truth than Saul was; yet he was sincere, and afterwards preached the faith which he once destroyed. This record is given to emphasize the lesson that the Saviour has given us, that we should in every case withhold judgment.

\*To show him that this conviction was not from Satan but from him.

Notes

"I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." Saul was called to suffering; so are all that will live godly in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. 3:12; Phil. 1:29; 1 Thess. 3:3. The secret of Paul's steadfastness was that he recognized this calling from the first. He never encountered anything unexpected. The men who apostatize when persecution arises are the ones who have calculated on having an easy time. They are the men for whom the way has been cleared, so that they could embrace the truth without any difficulty. They are like the soldiers who enlist thinking that army life is all dress parade, and who very naturally run when they see fighting. But the true soldier enlists with the understanding that he may receive wounds. So the men who enter the cause of God expecting tribulation, will not be moved by it. But while God calls men to suffering, he at the same time makes known to them his own joy, so that they can say that this "light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. 4:17. See also Rom. 8:18.