Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-12-22

clean "a bew 2lllng OF tue soul, IKE DaNll
from the belly Of hell-a going down In the
dust until Christ shall by His grace hit us up
as he lifted Paul. Oh, proud hearted
hearer, you must get OF that horsel May a
light from the throne of God brighter than
the sun throw you'll Come down into the
dust and cry for pardon and lie and heaven
Again. I learn from this scene OF the text
that the grace OF God can overcome the per-
secutor. Christ and Paul were boys al tho
same time In different villages, and Pauls
antipathy 10 Christ was increasing. He
hated everything about Christ. He was go
ing down then with writs In his pockets to
have Christ's disciples arrested. He was not
going as q sheriff goes to arrest q man against
wnom he had no spite, but Paul was going
down to arrest those people because he was
glad to arrest them.
The Bible says, ale breathed out slaugh-
ter" He wanted them captured, and he
wanted them butehered. l hear the click,
AMI clash and CHATTER OF tia hoofs OF the gal
Looping steeds on the way to Damascus. Oh,
do you think that proud man on horseback
can ever become a Christian Yes There
is a voice from heaven like q thunderclap
uttering two words, the second word the
same AS the first, but uttered with more en-
phasis, so that the proud equestrian may have
no doubt asto whom Is meant saul Saul
That man was saved, and he was a persecu-
tor, and so God can, by His grace, overcome
any prosecutor.
The days OF sword and fire for Christians
seem to have gone by. The bayonets oil
Napoleon L pried open the "inQulsition"
aGl a.. t.n !J...u' Mt,.rirs out. The
ancient dungeons around Rome are TODAY
mere cur.osities for the travellers. The
Coliseum, whore wild BEASTS used TO suck
up tn" lie OF the martyrs while the emperor
watched and Lola Pauina sat with emerald
hdornmCnts worth 20, 900. 900 scsterces, clap
ing her han 10 as the Chr ,stians died under
the paw and the tooth OF tho lion-that Col
iseum is n ruin now. The scene OF the
Smithfeld fires is u haymarket. The day OF
fire and sword for Christians seems 10 have
gone by. But has the day OF persecution
ceased2 No. Are you not caricatured for
your religion? In proportion as you try to
serve God and be faithful to Him, are you
not sometimes malt reatet2
That woman fnis It hard to bea Christian
ms her husband talks and jeers while she IS
trying to say her prayers or read the Bible.
That daughter finds II hard to be a Christian
w''N tho ~ 40 fr.','lv a-rave1 a~7inst her
rarner, mo9her, brother ana sister making
her the target OF ridicule. That young man
finds II hard to be Christian in the shop or
factory or store when his comrades jeer at
him because he will not 20 10 the gambling
Oh, no, the days OF persecution have not
ceased and will not until the end OF the
world. But oh, you prosecuted ones, is 1t not
time that you began to pray for your perse-
cutors? They are no prouder, no fercer, no
more set in their way than was this perse-
cutor OF the text. He fell. They will fall II
Christ from the heavens grandly and glorI-
ously looks out on them. God can by His
grace make Renan believe in the divinity OF
7, a .l,n To- hn, 81
Robert Newton stamped the ships deck In
derisive indignation at Christianity only a
little while before he became a Christian.
"Out OF my house." said father to his
daughter, az you will keep praying" Yet
before many months passed the father knek
at the same altar with the child. And the
Lord Jesus Christ Is willing to look out from
heaven upon that dertsive opponent OF the
Christian religion and address him, not in
glitterinS generalities, but calling him by
name John George! Henry Saul,
Saul. why persecutest thou Mer'
Again, learn from this subject that there
Is hope for the worst offenders. 1t WINS par
ticuarly outrageous that Saul should have
gone to Damascus on that errand. Jesus
Christ had been dead only three years. and
the story OF his kudness and his generosity,
and mis- love filed all the air. II was not an
Old story, as II Is now. II was new story.
Jesus had only three summers ago been in
these very places, and Saul every day In
Jerusalem must have met people who knew
Christ people with good eyesight whom
Jesus had cured OF blindness, people who
had been dead and who had been resurrect ed
by the Savior, and the people who could tell
Paul all the particulars OF the crucifxion-
Just how Jesus looked In the last hour, Just
bow tho heavens grew black In tho face at
the torture.
.loa I.nl a 49, AHA.
VINO were acquainted with all the crcum-
Stances, and yet in the fresh memory OF that
scene he goes to persecute Ohrist's disciples,
impatient at the time II takes TO feed the
horses AT tn inn, not pulling at the snaffie,
but RIDING with loose rein faster and faster.
On, he was the chief OF sinners No outbreak
OF moiesty when he said that. He was a
murderer. He stood by when Stephen died
md helped in the execution OF that good
man.
When She rabble wanted to be unimpeded
In their work Of destroying Stephen and
wanted to take of their coats, but did not
dare to lay them down lest they he stolen,
Paul said. "I'll take care Of the coats, and
they put them down at the feet OF Paul, and
he watched the coats, and he watched the
horrid mangling Of glorious Stephen Is 1t
wonder that when he fell from the horse he
did not break his neck-that his foot did not
saddle and he was not dragged and kicked
to death2 He deserved to die miserably,
wretchedy and forever, notwithstanding all
his metaphysics, aad his eloquence, and his
logic.
He was the chief OF sinners He said what
was true when he said that. And ye: the
grace OF God saved him, and so II will you.
II there Is amy man In this house who thinks
he 10 too bad to be saved and sayS ~ have
wandered very grevously from God 1 do
not believe there Is any hope for me-" tell
you the story OF this man In thete who WAS
brought to Jesus Christ In apite OF his sins
and opposition. There may be some here
who are as stoutly opposed to Christ rs Paul
was. There may be some here who are cap
tive OF their sins ns much so as the young
man who said In regard to his dissipating
habits: ~ will keep on with them. know
am breaking my mothers heart, and
know am killing myself, and know that
when die shall so TO he'll, but 1t is now
too late TO stop"
The steed on which you rio may DO
switter and stronger an higher melted than
that on which the Cllician prosecutor rode,
but Christ can catch 1t By the bride and hurl
1t back and hurl 1t down. There Is mercy
for you who say you are too bad to be saved.
You say you have put of the matter so long /;
Paul had neglected 1t n great while. You
say that the sin you have committed has
been among the most aggravatinS circum-
stances that was so with Paus.
You say you have exlsperated Christ an !
coaxed your own ruin so did Paul. And
yet he sits to-day on one OF the highest Of
the heavenly thrones, AMI there IL mercy
for you, and COOL days for you, and glad.
ness for you, II you will only take the same
Christ which first threw him down and then
raised him up. 1t seems TO me rs II Gun
see Paul to-day rising up from the highway
to Damascus, and brushing Off the dust from
his cloak, and wiping the sweat OF excite
ment from his brow, as he turns to us and
all the ages, saying, "This Is a faithful say