Acts 9:15

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: BUT THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, GO THY WAY - q.d., 'Do as thou art bidden, without gainsaying; his days of hostility to Me are at an end.' FOR HE IS A CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME, [ skeuos (G4632) eklogees (G1589)]. This word "vessel" (as Alford observes) is afterward used once and again by the apostle himself in illustrating the sovereignty of God's electing grace (Romans 9:21; 2 Corinthians 4:7;...

15._Go; because he is an elect instrument. _The commandment repeated the second time, and also the promise of success added, taketh away all doubtfulness. Therefore sloth shall want an excuse, if it be never redressed after that many pricks be used; like as we see that very many, who howsoever the Lord cry unto them continually, do not only loiter during their whole life, but do also cherish their slothfulness by all means possible. (594) If any man object that the Lord speaketh not at this day in a vision, I answer, that forasmuch as the Scripture is abundantly confirmed to us, we must hear God thence. (595) _A vessel of election, _or, as Erasmus translateth it, _an elect instrument, _is taken for an excellent minister. The word _instrument _doth show that men can do nothing, save inasmuch as God useth their industry at his pleasure. For if we be instru

10-22 A good work was begun in Saul, when he was brought to Christ's feet with those words, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And never did Christ leave any who were brought to that. Behold, the proud Pharisee, the unmerciful oppressor, the daring blasphemer, prayeth! And thus it is even now, and with the proud infidel, or the abandoned sinner. What happy tidings are these to all who understand the nature and power of prayer, of such prayer as the humbled sinner presents for the blessings of free salvation! Now he began to pray after another manner than he had done; before, he said his prayers, now, he prayed them. Regenerating grace sets people on praying; you may as well find a living man without breath, as a living Christian without prayer. Yet even eminent disciples, like Ananias, sometimes stagger at the commands of the Lord. But it is the Lord's glory to surpass our scanty expec...

Verse Acts 9:15. _GO THY WAY_] He was thus prevented from going farther in his reasoning on this subject. _HE IS A CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME_] The word σκευος in Greek, and כלי _keley_ in Hebrew, though they literally signify a _vessel_, yet they are both used to signify any kind of _instrument_, or the _means_ by which an act is done. In the Tract. _Sohar Exod_. fol. 87, on these words of Boaz to Ruth, Ruth 2:9, _When thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink_, c., there are these remarkable words ." כלי _keley, vessels_ that is, the _righteous_, who are called the _vessels_ or _instruments_ of Jehovah; for it is decreed that the whole world shall bring gifts to the King Messiah; and these are the vessels of the Lord: vessels, I say, whic

GO THY WAY - This is often the only answer that we obtain to the suggestion of our doubts and hesitations about duty. God tells us still to do what he requires, with an assurance only that his commands are just, and that there are good reasons for them. A CHOSEN VESSEL - The usual meaning of the word “vessel” is well known. It commonly denotes a “cup or basin,” such as is used in a house. It then denotes “any instrument which may be used to accomplish a purpose, perhaps particularly with the notion of conveying or communicating.” In the Scriptures it is used to denote the “instrument” or “agent” which God employs to convey his favors to mankind, and is thus employed to represent the ministers of the gospel, 2Co 4:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:4. Compare...

EXPOSITION ACTS 9:1 _But _for _and, _A.V.; _breathing _for _breathing out, _A.V.; _threatening _for _threatenings, _A.V. THREATENING AND SLAUGHTER. The phrase ἐμπνέων ἀπειλῆς κ.τ.λ., is rather a difficult one, and is variously explained. Schleusner takes the genitives in "threatening and slaughter" as genitives of the thing desired, "punting after threatening and slaughter" (comp. Amos 2:7). Meyer explains it "out of the threatenings and murder [in his heart] breathing hard at the disciples"—an expression indicating passion. Alford, taking nearly the sense of the A.V., makes "threatenings and slaughter" to be as it were the very material of his breath, whether breathed out or breathed in. Considering that ἐμπνέω means "to br

BUT THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, GO THY WAY,.... The Syriac version reads, "arise, go thy way"; make no delay, nor any excuse, there is no reason for it; nothing is to be feared from him: FOR HE IS A CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME; a choice and excellent one, full of the heavenly treasure of the Gospel, full of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, and so very fit and richly qualified for the use and service of Christ; and was כלי חמדתה, "a vessel of desire", or a desirable one, as the Jews speak n: or he was, to render the words literally, "a vessel of election"; both an instrument gathering in the election, or the elect of God, through the preaching of the Gospel; and was himself chosen of God, both to grace and glory, a vessel of mercy, and of honour prepared for glory; and was separated, predestinated, and appointed to the Gospel of God, to preach it among the Gentiles; which sense is confirmed by...

Acts 9:1. _And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem._ His very breath was hot with malice against the saints, he could not live without venting his spite upon the disciples of Christ. He showed this by the fact that he not only sought to arrest men, but he was equally cruel towards women, who, from their weakness, one would have thought might have been let alone but he expressly desired it to be written in the letters that, «whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.» Acts 9:3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and sudden

CHAPTER 9 __ 1. The vision of Glory on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1). 2. Instructions given to Ananias (Acts 9:10). 3. Saul filled with the Spirit, is baptized and preaches that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 9:17). 4. Saul persecuted and back in Jerusalem (Acts 9:23). 5. Further Acts of Peter (Acts 9:32). The previous chapter must be looked upon in its main part as a parenthesis. The record now leads us back to the close of the seventh, and the person who was connected with the great tragedy enacted there is prominently brought n

PAUL'S CONVERSION. This belongs geographically to the field of the Hellenist mission, which was announced in Acts 8:4, and occupied that whole chapter. We heard of that mission at Samaria and Cæ sarea, now we hear of people at Damascus who belong to the Way. Saul's persecuting zeal (Acts 8:3) was not aimed at the apostles, but sought to protect the Jewish communities of the Dispersion from the poison of the Gospel. He is said to have applied to the High Priest for letters to the synagogues accrediting him as a special inquisitor. The High Priest had no authority over the synagogues of foreign towns, and under the Roman procurators the powers of the Sanhedrin were also much restricted (Schü rer, II. i. 185); the Roman Government would have defended a believer who appealed to it from the designs here imputed to Paul, and we do n