Vers. 15-17. _The Conversion and Vocation of St. Paul._ +I. The causes of St. Paul's conversion.+--1. The good pleasure of God. 2. His separation from the womb, which is an act of God's counsel whereby He sets men apart to be members of Christ and to be His servants in this or that office. 3. His vocation by grace--the accomplishment of both the former in the time which God had appointed. +II. The manner of his vocation.+--"To reveal His Son in me." 1. By preparation. God humbled and subdued the pride and stubbornness of his heart and made him tractable and teachable. 2. By instruction. (1) Propounding unto him the commandment of the Gospel, to repent and believe in Christ. (2) Offering to him the promise of remission of sins and life everlasting when he believed. 3. By a real and lively teaching when God made Paul in his heart answer the calling. Ministers of Christ must learn Christ as Paul learned Him. +III. The end of Paul's conversion.+--To preach Christ among the Gentiles. 1. Christ is the substance or subject-matter of the whole Bible. 2. To preach Christ is: (1) To teach the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, and His offices as King, Prophet, and Priest. (2) That faith is an instrument to apprehend and apply Christ. (3) To certify and reveal to every hearer that it is the will of God to save him by Christ if he will receive Him. (4) That he is to apply Christ with His benefits to himself in particular. 3. To preach to the Gentiles: (1) Because the prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles must be fulfilled. (2) Because the division between the Jews and Gentiles is abolished. +IV. Paul's obedience to the calling of God+ (vers. 16, 17).--1. God's Word, preached or written, does not depend on the authority of any man--no, not on the authority of the apostles themselves. 2. There is no consultation or deliberation to be used at any time touching the holding or not holding of our religion. 3. Our obedience to God must be without consultation. We must first try what is the will of God, and then absolutely put it into execution, leaving the issue to God. 4. Paul goes into Arabia and Damascus, and becomes a teacher to his professed enemies.--_Perkins._ Vers. 15, 16. _Conversion as illustrated by that of St. Paul._--In the case of St. Paul there are many circumstances not paralleled in the general experience of Christians; but in its essential features, in the views with which it was accompanied and the effects it produced, it was exactly the same as every one must experience before he can enter into the kingdom of God.