Evening journal., 1890-03-24

tive OF the conversion of Saul, you re-
member how he deemed he wss doing
Gods service In prosecuting his saints,
how he was miraculously stopped in his
cruel work by the voice Of the unseen
and asked "who art thouT How the an
swer came 81 am Jesus whom thou per-
sscutest"
What a revelation to Paul; that he, the
learned and Jealous, the cultivated and
refined scholar, that he who was devoting
his time and talents to the service of the
Master should be told that he was perse-
cutting Jesus.
Every offense we commit, every sin
in which we indulge-and even the best
of us commit offenses and cherish sins
Is personal offense to God. Paul had
no idea that he was guilty of such a
heiRous thing as that. His was not low
idea of what was required Of bim he was
thoroughly educated; he was convsrsant
with all the polite literature of the day
his standard Of morals was high and his
zeal was intense.
"His idea of Jesus was very different
| from that which he held after wards.
Before the people who acknowledged
Jesus were ignorant and of low degree.
These people composed the retiHue of
Christ when Saul was stopped in the act
/ Of prosecuting the King of Kings, the
Lord and the adorable Son Of God. After,
in what different phase He appeared to
converted Paul7
"What is conversion2 Is It simply a
change Of the mind7 II you were to go
to the foot OF French street to take the
train for Philadelphia and after arriving
there determined to 90 to Baltimore you
woRld have simply changed your mind.
But to Paul all things had q different
look. He had been fighting against
Jesus in fighting against His people. He
found that these lowlY people whom he
had despised, prosecuted and pat to the
sword were the loving people of Jesus.
Paul was converted. He learned that
every offense against these people was an
offense against Christ. Every offenss
the best of us commit is an offenss
against Christ. not against ethics OF
some great principle of philosophy, but
so many transgressions against Christ
/ Himself.
when we are stopped in some sinful
act and inquire Who art thou Lord9
the answer comes quickly and solemnl)
back L am Jesus, whom thou persecutest
It Is against me that you took that jour
ney, it is against me that you are perse-
cutting those people.
Gould we 20 on IL we remember thai
we offended Christ personality When WI
are tempted to say profsne words or to
do some dastardly deed, would we no
stop and kill off that desire for the sake
of some dear friend2 When we conside
T what Christ did and endured for us we
cannot commit these offenses. We mus
see in everything that is not pure anl
good personal assault upon Christ.
Here the eloquent speaker exhorte
his hearers to be more practical TO le
their acts display their spiritual conver
: sion; not to give so little for so muc
! from Christ.
The earnest preacher referred to tn
: prevalence Of swearing, to the effron
terry with which profanity was heard i
a public He said he had to change hi
1 seat on the train between here and Ne'
Castle last week, because Of the oifensiv
profanity of two young men. He II
:. ferrsd to two other young men whit
7 meeting on Market street, greeted eac
! other not with the complimentary cour
tesies which should have passed betwee
them but without raglous and shockin
2 oaths. 1T was worse because they al
, so accustomed to this, that they do
involAntarily without thinking of Ii
Q enormity. They plaspheme the Almighi
!, God so constantly that they do not mott
q it. There is something for us to do
q what we may to stop the offense again
sr God. God has been insulted. As "
value the name Of Jesus you should r
u buke and reprove in gentle times thoI
who insulted the Lord.
In closing his admirable discourse tn
Y biohop said in part Before Lent
q passed away you should make out yol
y minds, no matter how the world mi
y treat you, that you viii keep your lii
Z sealed and yonr hands paralyzed at yoI
e side rather than give any offense
% Jesus remembering that he said 81 a
e Jesus whom thou persecutest."