Charles Spurgeon Commentary Acts 26:15-18

"And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me." — Acts 26:15-18 (ASV)

And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Part of this address was spoken to Paul by Ananias when he came to open his eyes. Therefore, some have thought that Paul here mixed up what was said to him by Christ and what was said by Ananias, even while recognizing it as being virtually all one message from Christ. But I do not think so.

I believe that Paul would have us understand that the Lord Jesus Christ actually said to him, on the road to Damascus, all that we have recorded here. And I believe that when Ananias came to him, he, without having heard what the Lord had said to Paul, said the same thing to him. This would be a kind of sign and token to the apostle that what was said to him was really a message from God.

How often this happens under every true gospel ministry! The very thing that you were talking about while on your way to the service will be spoken to you by God's servant in the house of prayer. That which you were reading before you came here may be the very subject selected for our present consideration. For God has a wondrous way of making one of His calls tally with another, so that the two, meeting without any collusion on our part, shall confirm and establish one another and more deeply impress the heart of the hearer.