Acts 26:20

Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision--This musical and elevated strain, which carries the reader along with it, and doubtless did the hearers, bespeaks the lofty region of thought and feeling to which the apostle had risen while rehearsing his Master's communications to him from heaven.

BEHOLD an amazing sight! Saul of Tarsus at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth! Listen! The persecutor's voice is changed into that of an enquiring disciple. He asks, "What will You have me to do?" If angels sang with delight over a new-made world, their song must have been seven times as joyous over a new-made Apostle! The change was miraculous.

BEHOLD an amazing sight! Saul of Tarsus at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth! Listen! The persecutor's voice is changed into that of an enquiring disciple. He asks, "What will You have me to do?" If angels sang with delight over a new-made world, their song must have been seven times as joyous over a new-made Apostle! The change was miraculous. At this distance of time we can hardly appreciate it, but if we had been living in daily fear of our lives—if we had seen our father or our brother dragged off to death by this ferocious enemy of the Cross—and then had suddenly heard that he was converted to the faith which he opposed, we would have cried, "Incredible!" For the Ethiopian to change his skin, or for the leopard to lose his spots would be little compared with this cruel Pharisee bowing himself in lowly penitence before the Lord Jesus whom He had persecuted! Do you wonder that when Saul came to Jerusalem and assayed to join himself to the disciples, they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple? My Brothers and Sisters, as in history, so in the Grace of God, it is the unexpected which frequently occurs! The men and women whom I expected to confess Christ long ago have not yet come. I have seen Felix tremble, but I have not seen him converted. I have seen Agrippa almost persuaded, but he is not yet a Christian. Meanwhile, I have beheld a Saul of Tarsus, who, before, raged against the Cross, bowing himself submissively before the Lord Jesus! Let us never be discouraged, but let us expect to see signs and wonders in the world of Divine Grace! Though priestcraft is far too dominant in our land, we may yet hear that "a great company of the priests" has believed in Christ.

See Act 9:20-23. The 20th verse contains a summary of his labors in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus. His argument is that the Lord Jesus had from heaven commanded him to do this, and that he had done no more than to obey his injunction. The word “then” in this verse is supplied by our translators, and is not necessary to the proper explanation of the passage. It would seem from that word that he had not preached “to the Gentiles” until after he had preached “at Jerusalem and throughout all the coasts of Judea,” whereas, in fact, he had, as we have reason to believe (see the notes on Act 9:23), before then “preached” to the Gentiles in Arabia. The statement here, in the original, is a general statement that he had preached at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and in all the coasts of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, but without specifying the exact order in which it was done.