The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-12-13
SAUL'S CONVERSION.
1t is Made the Subject of Ser
mon by Rev. DR.. Talmage.
Spiritual Uplifting The Religion of
Christ Is Not Pusillanimous
Thing = Hope for the
Worst Offenders.

been lecturing in the south, preached
at Birmingham, Ala, under the aus
pices of the Baptist church. The sub
ject was: "Unhorsed," and the text
! chosen was Acts TX, So:
"And as he journeyed he came near Damas-
Gus; and suddenly there shined arornd about
him light from heaven; and be fell 10 the
| earth and heard a voice saying unto him: Saul,
Saul, why sersecutest thou mel And he said:
Who art thou, Lord: And the Lord said: am
Jesus whom thou pcrsecutest."
The Damascus of Bible times still
stands, with population of one hun
dred and thirty-fve thousand. 1t was
a gay city of white and glistening
architecture, it's minarets and cres-
cents and domes playing with the
light of the morning sun; embowered
in groves of olive, and citron, and
orage and pomcgranate; famous river
plunging its brightness into the scene;
a city by the ancients styled "a pearl
surrounded by emeralds."
A group of horsemen are advancing
upon the city. Let the Christians of
the place hide, for that cavalcade COM
ing over the hills is made up of perse-
cutors; their leader, small and unat-
tractive in some respects, rs leaders
sometimes are insignificant in person;
witness the Duke of Wellington and
DR.. Archibald Alexander. But there
is something very intent in the eye of
this man of the text, and the horse he
rides is lathered with the foam of n
| nd L. -
and thirty-fve miles. lie urges on his
steed, for those Christians must be cap
tured and silenced and that religion of
the cross must be annihilated. Sud-
denly the horses shy off and plunge
until the riders are precipitated Freed,
from the riders the horses bound snort
ing away. You know that dumb ami
mails, at the sight of an eclipse, or an
earthquake or anything like super
natural appearance, sometimes become
\ very uncomfortable. A new sun had
been kindled in the heavens, putting
out the glare of the ordinary sun.
Christ with the elories OF Heaven
wrapped about Him, looked out from u
cloud and the splendor was insuffera-
BILE, aud no wonder the horses sprang
and the equestrians dropped. Dust
covered and bruised, Saul attempts to
get up, shading his eyes with his hands
from the severe luster Of the heavens,
but unsuccessfully, for he is struck
stone blind as he cries out: "Who art
Thou, Lord?" And Jesus answered
him: Il am the one you have been
chasing. He that whips and scourges
those Damascus Christians, whips and
1 scourges Me. 1t is not their back that
is bleeding; it is Mine. 1t is not their
heart that is breaking; II is Mine. l
am Jesus whom thou persecutest"
From that wild, exciting. aud over
whelming scene there rises up the
greatest preacher of all the ages-Paul,
in whose behalf prisons were rocked
down, before whom soldiers turned
pale, into whose hands Mediterranean
sea captains put control of their ship
wrecking craft, and whose epistles are
the avant courier Of a resurrection
! day.
! learn from this scene thata worldly
fall sometimes precedes a spiritual up
lifting. A man does not get much sym
pathy by falling off horse. People
say he ought not to have got into the
saddle II he could not ride. Those of
us who were brought up in the country
remember we'll how the worlSmen
laughed when, on the way back from
the brook, we suddenly lost our ride.
| fv,a N nd n,-fn -.
pied from the stirrups it became ma
tional merriment. Here is Paul on
horseback proud man, riding on
with government documents in his
pocket, a graduate Of a most famous
school in which the celebrated DIR. Ga
maliel had been a professor, perhaps
having already attained two of the
three titles OF the school-Rab, the
first; Rabbi, the second; and on his
way TO Rabbock, the third and highest
title. / know from his temperament
that his horse was ahead OF the other
horses. But without time TO think of
what posture he should take, or with
out consideration for his dignity, he is
tumbled into the dust And yet that
was the best ride Paul ever took Out
OF that violent fall he arose into the
apostleship So IL has been in all ages
and so IL is now.
You will never be worth much fer
God and the church until you lose your
fortune, or have your reputation up
set or in some way, somehow, are
thrown and humiliated. You must 90
down before you go up Joseph finds
his path to the Egyptian court through
the pit into which his brothers threw
him. Daniel would never have walked
amidst the bronzed lions that adorned
the Baby lonish throne II he had not
first walked amidst the real lions Of
the cave. And Paul marshals all the
generations Of Christendom by falling
fat on his face on the road 10 Damas-
Gus. Men who have been always pros
pered may be efficient servants of the
world, but will be of no advantage TO
Christ. You may ride majestically
seated on your charger, rein in hand.
foot In stirrup, but you will never be
worth anything spiritually until you
fallo off. They who graduate from the
school of Christ with the highest hon.
ors have on their diploma the seal Of
lions muddy paw, or the plash Of an
angry wave, or the drop OF stray tear,
or the brown scorch of prosecuting
fire. In nine hundred and ninety-nine
cases out OF thousand there IA no