Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-12-15


for women with no capacity TO reason,
for children in the infant class under
six years of age, but not for stalwart
men. Look at this man of the text!
Do you not think that the religion that
could capture such man as that must
have some power in it? He was
logician, he was II metaphysician, he
was an all-conquering orator, he was
poet of the highest type. He had
nature that could swamp the leading
men of his own day, and, hurled
against the Sanhedrim, he made IL trem-
bic. lie learned all he could get in the
school of his native village; then he
had gone to a higher school, and there
mastered the Greek and the Hebrew,
and perfected himself in bellies lettres,
until in after years he astonished the
Cretans, and the Corinthians, and the
Athenians by quotations from their
own authors. have never found any
thing in Carlyle, or Goethe, or Herbert
Spencer that could compare in strength
or beauty with Pauls epistles. | do
not think there is anything in the
writings of Sir William Hamilton that
shows such mental discipline as you
find in Paul's argument about justifica-
ton and the resurrection. | have not
found anything in Milton finer III the
way of imagination than l can find in
Paul's illustrations drawn from the
amphitheater. There was nothing
in Robert Emmett pleading
for his life, or in Edmund
Burke arraigning Warren Hast
ings in Westminster hall, that com
pared with the srsue in the court
room, when before re bed officials Paul
bowed and began his speech, saying,
Il think myself happy, King Agrippa,
because | shall answer for myself this
day." | repeat, that religion that
can capture 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 Chris
tianity Where Paul leads, we can
afford to follow. ! am glad to know
Christ has in the different ages of the
world had in his discipleship Mozart
and Handel in music; Raphael and
a Reynolds in paintings an Angelo and
a Canova in sculptures; Rush and a
Harvey in medicine; a Grotius and a
Washington in craftsmanship; a Black
stone, Marshall, and a Kent in law;
and the time will come when
the religion of Christ will conquer
all the observatories and universities,
and Philosophy will through her tele-
scope behold the morning star of Jesus,
and in her laboratory see that all
things work together for good" and
with her geological hammer discover
the Rock of Ages" Oh, instead of
covering and shlvering when the
slIeptic stands before you and talks of
religion as though it were n pusillani-
nous thng-instead of that take your
New Testament from your pocket and
show him the picture of the intel
lectual giant of all the ages, Frustrated
on the road to Damascus while his
horse is flying wildly away; then ask
your skeptic what it was that fright
ened the one and threw the other? Oh
no, it is no weak gospel. 1t is a glori-
Gus gospel. 1t is an all-conquering
gospel. 1t is an omnipotent gospel.
1t is the power of God and the wisdom
of God unto salvation.
Again, learn from the text man
can not become a Christian until he is
endorsed The trouble is, we want TO
ride into the kingdom of God, just as
| the knight rode into castle gate on
palfrey, beautifully caparisoned. We
want TO come into the kingdom of God
in fine style. No knceling down at the
! altar, no sitting on anxious seats, "
no crying over sin, no begging at the
! door of Gods mercy. Clear the road,
| and let us come in all prancing in the
pride of our soul. No, we will never
| get into heaven that way. We must
dismount. There is no lznight-errantry
in religion, no fringed trappings of re-
| pentance, but an utter prostration be-
fore God, going down in the Dust,
with the cry, "Unclean, unclean!'-a
| bewaling 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 nearer, you must get off Of
that horse. May a light from the
throne of God brighter than the sun
| throw you! Come down into the dust
and cry for pardon, and life, and
! heaven.
Again, learn from this scene of the
text that the grace of Cod can over
come the prosecutor Christ and Paul
were boys at the same time in differ
ent villages, and Pauls antipathy to
Christ was increasing. He hated every
thing about Christ. lie was going
down then with writs in his pockets TO
have Christ's disciples arrested. lie
was not going as sheriff goes, to ar
rest man against whom he had no
spite, but Paul was going down to ar
rest those people because he was glad
to arrest them. The bible says, lie
breathed out slaughter" He wanted
them captured, and he wanted them
butchered. | hear the click, and clash,
and clatter of the hoofs of the gallop-
ing steeds on the way to Damascus.
Oh! do you think that proud man on
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