Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-06-11
A BAcCALAuEA1i SERMON.
tcontinued from Second pageD

TO his race ana tnaJ IN the pfeSeHct
OF the church at Antioch. He could re-
fuse to yield to the wishes of the Jeru-
salem brethren In regard to Titus, and
even force James and Peter and John
to accept his view. When one of the
churches manifested an unruly spirit,
he could deal with it with severity
mingled indeed with affection This
strong Independent, forceful charcter,
trained in a way to accentuate all his
individualities. was not naturally do
cile 1t was hard for him to submit to |
another's leadership. He could not |
build on another mans foundation. He |
must preach ms own gospel. His dis
position then would lead him to choose
out his own path in life. And this in
deed he had done as a Jew;
but we witness a marvellous transfer
nation in him as Christian
| We cannot read his epistles
without noticing the great hum
! bleness of spirit everywhere manifest.
| + .ul the Christian is the servant, yes
the slave of Jesus Christ. His will has
been given up. ut is no longer l that
live" we hear him say, but Christ
livith in me-" When at the very be-
ginning of his new life Jesus appeared
to him in the temple and said to him:
Make haste and get thee quickly out
of Jerusalem, because they will not re-
ceive of thee testimony concerning
me-" We find him demonstrating in
this wise: Lord, they themselves
know that | imprisoned and beat In
every synagogue them that believed ON
Thee: and when the blood of Stephen,
thy witness. was shed. | also was
standing by, and consenting and keep
ing the garments of them that slew
him. Paul had given up indeed his
old ideals of life. He had cast away
all his old plans for himself since that
experience on the Damascus road; but
he was still the strong self-reliant
Paul. He had thrown himself into the
new way with all his energies, and had
made new plans for himself. He had
decided to 20 back to Jerusalem where
he was we'll known as the arch-perse-
cutor. and there bear his witness for
Christ 1t was hard for him to give
up this new Christian plan of his. But
when the answer came to his objection
Depart, for l will send thee forth faI
> hence to the Gentiles," he did not hesi-
I tate but went Notice, too, the docility
with which he follows the later COM
mands of the Master. There seems tc
have been no holding back when ne
was designated by the Spirit as one o
the missionaries from Antioch. Wher
on his second journey he went through
. Asia Minor we mark the sensitiveness
to the leading of the Spirit which char
acterized every step of the way.
and they went through the regio1
. of Fhrygia and Galatia, having beer
forbidden of the Holy Ghost tt
speak the word in Asia; and wher
they were come over agalns
Mysia, they assayed to 60 in
to Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus
suffered them not; and passing by My
sia. they came down to Troas. and {
vision appeared to Paul in the night
There was man of Macedonia stand
ing, beseeching him, and saying, come
over into Macedonia and help us. An'
when he had seen the vision, straight
way we sought to go forth into Mace
donia concluding that God had calleC
us for to preach the gospel unto them
Here we see the forceful, independent
assertive Paul yielding at every tuli
his own will, his own plan, his owl
inclination and judgment, and follow
= ing the plan of another, which more
ever he can see only as it is revealed
y step at a time. Is not this an ano
maly? And further hear him give eH
~ ultant expression to this very submis
"a sive temper of mind so contrary TO nj
nature. THE things that were gain I
y me these have | counted loss 10
Il Christ" All those advantages he for
q merry priced, all those ambitions n
once had cherished, he threw them al
0, away. he counted them only as refuse
Now Christian that he was. he had ou
- one aim. He says, Il press on, If be S
Is that | may apprehend that for whlc
IN also | want apprehended by Christ Je
49, sus." Paul was not less earnest, les
a active, les persistent in his work tina
le before; it seems as if all the energie
III of his nature were intensified. But a
ss,s his powers were now controlled an
u directed by will above his owl
Wherever that command of Christ d
e, rected him. there he pressed with a
OF his might. No danger or hardshl
o. daunted him. Persecution was lgl
to thing to bear Even the thorn in tn
n flesh could be endured; because Ill