Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1893-12-11

|
ture such man as that must have som,
power in it3 He was a logician; he wa
ametaphysician; he was an all conouer
ing orator; he was poet of the biebes+
type. dc had nature that could swa1nr
.ne leading men of his own day, and
hurled against the sanhedrin he made
1t tremble.
hel learned all that he could get in the
school OF his native village; then he had
gone to higher school and there mas.
tered the Greek and the Hebrew and
perfected himself in bellies lettres. until
IN after years he sstonished the Cretans.
and the Corinthians, and the Athenians
by quotations from their own authors, /
have never found anything in Carlyle or
Goeth or Herbert Spencer that could
compared in strength or beauty with Paul's
epistles. l do not think there is ANYTHING
in the writings of Sir William Hamilton
that shows such mental discipline as you
md In Paurs argument about justifca-
ton and the resurrection. have not
found anything in Milton finer in the
way of imagination than can find in
Paurs illustrations drawn from the am
phitheater.
There was nothing in Robert Emmet
pleading for his life. or in. Edmund
Burke arraigning Warren Hastings in
Westminster hall, that compared with
the scene in the courtroom when, before
robed officials, Paul bowed and began his
speech, saying, II think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because l shall answer for
myself this day." Irepeat that a religion
that can capture a man like that must
have some power in it. 1t is time you
stopped talking as though all the brain
of the world were opposed to Christiani-
ty. Where Paul leads, we can afford to
follow.
TALENTED CHRISTIANS.
| am glad to know that Christ has in
the different ages of the world had in
his discipleship Mozart and Handel
in music, Raphael and Reynolds in
painting, an Angelo and Canova in
sculpture, Rush and a Harvey in medi-
cine, a Grotius and Washington in
Blackstone, Marshall
and Kent in law. And the time will
come when the religion of Christ will
conquer all the observatories and uni
versities, and philosophy will through
her telescope behold the morning star Of
Jesus, and in her laboratory see "that
Ill things work together for good" and
with her geological hammer discover the
Rock of Ages"
Oh, instead of covering and shivering
when the skeptic stands before you and
alks of religion as though it were pu-
Unanimous thing-instead of that, take
our New Testament from your pocket
nd show him the picture of the intel
ectual giant of all the ages Frustrated
N the road to Damascus while his horse
s flying wildly away. Then ask your
,keptic vt it was that frightened the
,ne and w the other. Oh, no, it is
10 weak .,ospel. tits glorious gospel.
L is an all eonquering gospel. 1t is an
,mnipotent gospel. 1t is the power of
3od and the wisdom of God unto saliva
ion.
HE MUST BE HUMBIED.
Again, Ilearn from the'text man can
not become Christian until he is un-
horsed. The trouble is, we want to ride
into the kingdom of God Just as the
knight rode into castle gate on palfrey,
caparisoned. We want to
come into the kingdom of God in fine
atyle. No kneeling down at the altar, no
sitting on "anxious seats" no ocrying over
sin, no begging at,the door of Gods mer-
cv. Clear the road and let us come in
oil prancing in the pride of our soul.
No. we will never get into heaven that
way. We must dismount.
There is no knight errantry in religion,
no fringed trappings of repentance but
an utter prostration before God, going
down in the dust, with the cry, "Un-
clean. unclean!"-a bewailing of the SOUL
like David from the belly of hell-a
going down in the dust until Christ
shall by his grace lift us up as he lifted
Paul Oh, proud hearted hearer, you
mnst get off that horse! May light
from the throne of God brighter than the
sun throw you! Come down into the
dust and cry for pardon and life ana
heaven. - n,o
Again. learn FROM this scene OF the
text that the grace of God can overcome
the nersecutor. Christ and Paul were
bovs at the same time in different VII
Ioges and Paul's antipathy to Christ was
increasing. He hated everything about
Chr;st He was going down then with
'~-;ts in his pockets to have Christ's dis
o;nlea arrested. He was not going as q
sheriff goes to arrest man against
whom he had no spite, but Paul was go
inc down to arrest those people because
he he was glad to arrest them:
10 rha Nc Rible saws, HE breathed OUT
s,anobter" He wanted them captured,
and he wanted them butchered. near
az shs Click and clash and clatter OF tne
Soofs | Of the galloping steeds on the way
% namascus. Oh, do you think tna'
",ond man on horseback can ever De, @
poms a Christian1 Yes! There Is .so' vOao'
tsom heaven like thunderclap ut1erins !.
.wo % words, the second word the same n'.a =
.my .o s~st | hut uttered with more emphasis
~ that the proud equestrian may N, nav
30 tn"S 20 xvho Ia meant: saul