Acts 9:11

And the Lord said unto him, arise,.... Quickly, directly, immediately, from off thy bed; the case required haste and dispatch: and go into the street which is called Straight; a street in the city of Damascus so called; the streets of cities were called by different names, to distinguish them as ours now are.

THESE words are the hallmark of genuine conversion. "Behold, he prays" is a surer witness of a man's conversion than, "Behold, he sings," or, "Behold, he reads the Scripture," or, "Behold, he preaches." These things may be admirably done by men who are not regenerate! But if, in God's sense of the term, a man really prays, we may know for sure that he has passed from death unto life.

It was situated on the river Cydnus, was a "large and populous city" (says XENOPHON, and see Ac 21:39), and under the Romans had the privilege of self-government. behold, he prayeth--"breathing out" no longer "threatenings and slaughter," but struggling desires after light and life in the Persecuted One.

GOD has many methods of quenching persecution. He will not suffer his church to be injured by its enemies, or overwhelmed by its foes; and he is not short of means for turning aside the way of the wicked, or of turning it upside down. In two ways he usually accomplishes his end; sometimes by the confusion of the persecutor, and at others in a more blessed manner, by his conversion. Sometimes, he confuses and confounds his enemies; he makes the diviner mad; he lets the man who comes against him be utterly destroyed, suffers him to drive on to his own destruction, and then at last turns round in triumphant derision upon the man who hoped to have said aha! aha! To the church of God. But at other times, as in this case, he converts the persecutor. Thus, he transforms the foe into a friend; he makes the man who was a warrior against the gospel a soldier for it. Out of darkness he bringeth forth light; out of the eater he getteth honey; yea, out of stony hearts he raiseth up children unto Abraham. Such was the case with Saul. A more furious bigot it is impossible to conceive. He had been bespattered with the blood of Stephen, when they stoned him to death; so officious was he in his cruelty, that the men left their clothes in the charge of a young man named Saul. Living at Jerusalem, in the college of Gamaliel, he constantly came in contact with the disciples of the Man of Nazareth; he laughed at them, he reviled them as they passed along the street; he procured enactments against them, and put them to death; and now, as a crowning point, this were-wolf, having tasted blood, becomes exceeding mad, determines to go to Damascus, that he may glut himself with the gore of men and women; that he may bind the Christians, and bring them to Jerusalem, there to suffer what he considered to be a just punishment for their heresy, and departure from their ancient religion.

GOD has many methods of quenching persecution. He will not suffer his church to be injured by its enemies, or overwhelmed by its foes; and he is not short of means for turning aside the way of the wicked, or of turning it upside down. In two ways he usually accomplishes his end; sometimes by the confusion of the persecutor, and at others in a more blessed manner, by his conversion.

THESE words are the hallmark of genuine conversion. "Behold, he prays" is a surer witness of a man's conversion than, "Behold, he sings," or, "Behold, he reads the Scripture," or, "Behold, he preaches." These things may be admirably done by men who are not regenerate! But if, in God's sense of the term, a man really prays, we may know for sure that he has passed from death unto life. True prayer is a sure evidence of spiritual quickening—the Holy Spirit has put spiritual life into the heart of the man who prays, for prayer is the breath of heavenly life. Prayer is the outcome of that sense of need which arises from the new life—a man would not pray to God if he did not feel that he had urgent need of blessings which only the Lord can bestow. While expressing his sense of need and appealing to God for help, the praying man gives evidence of being at peace with his Lord and cured of his natural alienation. He who prays, trusts, and thus reveals the faith which saves. Some forms of prayer display great faith, but all real prayer is the working of faith, either little or great. Will a man cry to God for mercy if he does not believe in Him? Will he plead at the Mercy Seat if he does not expect to obtain his desire? Thus, dear Friends, prayer of the true kind is a voucher for the existence of spiritual life in its consciousness of need, in its turning towards God and in its faith in Him. Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart. Prayer is also an admirable form of communion with God and, as the carnal mind can have no fellowship with God, it becomes the token of regeneration, the evidence of adoption! He that prays has some knowledge of God, some acquaintance with the great Invisible. The habit of private prayer and the constant practice of heart fellowship with the Most High are the surest indicators of the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart.

Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight - How very particular is this direction! And it was necessary that it should be so, that he might see the whole to be a Divine communication; the house was probably one in which Saul was accustomed to reside when at Damascus; and where he was known as a native of Tarsus. Tarsus was a city of Cilicia, seated on the Cydnus, and now called Tarasso. It was, at one period, the capital of all Cilicia, and became a rival to Alexandria and Athens in the arts and sciences. The inhabitants, in the time of Julius Caesar, having shown themselves friendly to the Romans, were endowed with all the privileges of Roman citizens; and it was on this account that St. Paul claimed the rights of a Roman citizen; a circumstance which, on different occasions, was to him, and the cause in which he was engaged, of considerable service. Behold, he prayeth - He is earnestly seeking to know my will, and to find the salvation of his soul; therefore, go speedily, and direct him. Some have laid needless stress on these words, as if they intimated, that “though Saul as a Pharisee had often said his prayers, yet he had never prayed them till now.” This is not correct: he could himself testify that, while he was a Pharisee, he had lived in all good conscience towards God; and consequently, in that time, made many faithful and fervent prayers; but he was praying now for instruction, and his prayers were speedily answered.