The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-06-20


 in response to has anxious question, 'Who art thou, l. ord?" were, q am Je- sus whom thou persecutest." He vas convicted and his sins stood out before him, His Saviour contrary to wnom he had thought he ought to do many things, was revealed to him. A great revolution took place in all his thoughts and feelings, purposes and life. The voice esthat spoke to him from heaven was in -'the Hebrew tongue" his own mothert ttongue, the language of the Christians whom he had hunted. the language of the expiring martyr as Ehe had prayed9 with his last breath, A"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" FIt went home toe SauIs inmost soul. It [ iannounced the fact that he would most Mike to forget. It told him of a living ftruth that he was trying to ride down Fand stamp out. It put first that which he would put elast He believed Tn heaven, though he did not believe in SChrist, But out of heaven came the lthrilling message, q am Jesus!" It Twas irresistible. From the depth of his being came the overwhelming cry, sweeping, like a flood, all before it. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" That settled the matter. It was an en- Ntire surrender It carried Saul over from one side to the other It changed the persecutor into an apostle.
 The sight of the glory struck Saul blind. and for three days he was shut 1up wlthin himself. He was in golden lDamascus, but its outward beauties werei hidden to him; another beauty hir soul Seeing nothing of this world he .came Eto sight of things of the other world For all these days this tues tion\ echoed in Saul's mind: Why per secutest thou Me-" The Me became great, aIl-absorbing; it filled the whole | horizon of his thought and covered the tsunless heaven of his imagination. That Me had been of small account. Fhad been hated, had been a name of contempt and ignominy. It rose like a sun at morning, clear on his inner vi sion, waxing in volume of light and Iuster until 1t filled all the Armament with it's burning glory. Thereafter theue was but one name-Jesus was all. The Me who was revealed on the higtr road to Damascus was He whom Saul had persecuted In the thought of what he had been doing he lived over his whole life His early days, his educatiun the scriptures of his nation and their hopes and their forlorn fate, passed before him. The new faith, the wonder of Calvary, the story of the resurrection and the ascension, the miracles and the preaching of the apos- ties, the advice of Gamaliel at whose |, l,n or,;f, q rt Io1 of Stephen, the prison he had filled with the Lords disciples, his ride across Palestine, and his fierce errand at Damascus, crowded his blind days of fasting. The Christ was revealed. Saul saw that there was pardon and peace in him. It was not by human intervention he had been arrested. It l was by the Lord himself.
 Straightway there fell from his ayes as it had been scales. He had the full vision of the Lord. From that dark ened room he walked forth into un | clouded day, the day of devoted ser vice. The conversion was one that | carried the whole man with it. He was new man; old things had passed away; all things had become new. ! Dd LII ; lltN bll LII " cio b pil ti iiiNp 'OAiA
 plete Christian life. He committed himself, soul and body, to the Lord Je- | sus. Immediately he confessed his faith and was with the disciples" He 1 abandoned forever his old associates and his old habits and opinions and 1 boldly proclaimed Jesus. We are not
 surprised to read that he increased l the more in strength" Chrysostom
 says of him, Christ, like skillful physician, healed him when his fever
 was at the worst" It was thorough l healing.
 The conversion of Saul was complete
 and made him thenceforward to be | Paul, the great apostle, the self-sacri-
 ficing, heroic soldier of the cross. | Think of what he renounced! He was
 a man of liberal learning, which might have placed him among the foremost of | his nation. All that learning he conse
 crated to Christ He was, probably, a
 member of the Sanhedrin and therefore
 in the place of power. All that power 1 he consecrated to Christ. He was
 where he might have gained wealth
 and fame. He allied himself to a sect that was everywhere spoken against and despised, and he became it's fore most advocate. He was a partaker of
 Christs sufferings. He breathed love.
 There is something very beautiful in his visit to see Peter. He had seen Christ; he wanted to see Christs friend He had been for three years in the theological school of the desert,
 where he unlearned the old part of his
 education and had begun the study of the new faith. Coming again into the fellowship of the brethren and feeling
 the settlements of the great conflict
 between the old faith and the new, ho desired to become acquainted with the leader of the church, and he traVeled | back over the old route from Damascus to Jerusalem, and for fifteen days those two great apostles were together in the home of Peter. We can only imagine their converse tions and their prayers
 with one another. Peter took Paul to
 his heart, and Paul was made strong
 and happy by his welcome. Ananias
 called him Brother Saul" BarnaDus
 took him by the hand and introduced him to the company of the apostles. Peter received him into his own home
 as if he were an old friend. All the brethren cared for him, watched over him. thwarted his enemies and rejoiced 1 with him in all that he could do Nor Christ From that time commenced a 1 pareer f1lII nf marvel fI1I of human