Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-02-19

CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
(Original.]
(Orig
PAUL.


No mere man ever made such an impress
sion upon his fellow men as did the Apostle
Paul. He first comes into notice at the
stoning of Stephen. There he is spoken of
as a young man at whose feet were laid the
clothes of them that stoned Stephen. We
next hear of him on his way to Damascus, a
city of Syria, about one hundred and tWen-
ty miles north Of Jerusalem. At this time
he bore the name, Saul. When he had come
within a short distance of Damascus, he was
arrested in his mad career by Jesus Christ,
who personally appeared unto him.. ne
was taken, by the command of Jesus Christ,
to Damascus, and there baptized by Anna
Mas after which he returned to Jerusalem
While engaged in prayer in the temple at
Jerusalem, Jesus Christ again personally
appeared unto him, and sent him far hence
unto the Gentiles." Buta short time before
this he had been commissioned, at his own
request, by the high priest and elders OF the
Jews and sent out to put to death all who
believed in Jesus Christ. Now he is COM
missioned by Jesus Christ himself to testify
for him "before the Gentiles, and the kings,
and the people of Israel"
The conversion of Paul was miraculous.
1t is the only case of the kind on record.
That Paul underwent that peculiar change
which is denoted by the word conversion,
A>o
one dare say that Paul underwent no change
of heart, but that for some reason, pruden-
tial or otherwise, he simply desisted from
prosecuting the followers of Jesus Christ,
and, for the same reason, whatever may be
alleged, espoused the cause of Jesus Christ.
It is true that the human feelings of his
heart, if these were not all, at that time,
crushed out, might have prompted him to
desist from persecuting; but there was moth
ing, viewing things from human stand
point, to induce him to follow Jesus Christ
Paul, however, tells US that in prosecuting
the saints he thought he was doing his
duty-tloing what he ought to do-dolng
God service. Christianity at that time had
nothing to offer an unconverted man which
would at all be likely TO induce him to ac-
cept it, In fact, Christianity, as viewed at
that time by an uncOnverted man, had eve
rything in it to induce his unconverted
heart to reject it. What was there to induce
Paul, unconverted to join himself with a
few obscure fishermen? tits admitted that
these fishermen proclaimed that Jesus is the
Christ, and offered eternal life through his
blood. This is the very thing that Pau, ,
before his conversion, did not believe, anil
he was confident that he would be saved by
the deeds of the law.
The conversion of Paul shows the Won
derful change that actually does take place
in conversion. In some respects the CONVEX
sion of Paul was unlike every other conver-
sion, either before or after it. In it's main
and leading features there was nothing pc
culiar about it. The change which took
place in the soul of Paul is the identical
same thing which takes place in the soul OF
every individual who is converted. The
attending circumstances in no other case
may be like those which were present when
Paul was converted, neither may they be
alike in any two cases, but the conversion is
the same. In other words, there are not
several kinds Of conversion; there is but one
conversion. No better explanation of what
conversion is can possibly be given than
that change which manifestly took place, in
the case of Paul, affords. Paul's case is an
occular demonstration of the effect of con-
version, and the conversion of Paul and the
effect of that conversion on Paul stands so
close together that it is difficult to distin-
guish the one from the other.
1t will do every individual good to study
carefully the history Of Pauls conversion.
If such iscarefully and prayerfully conduct
ed, it will result in .at comfort to some,
and others will be apt to discover that their
conversion is miserable sham.