The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-11
Paul In the Desert.

But I believe there was still another reason why Paul disappeared into the Arabian desert and stayed there for three long years He wanted to study the word of God. He wanted to get his
 heart mellowed and spirtualized by prayer Oh yes; but, more than that he wanted to get the hearts of the people into the condition where they would be willing to trust him and believe in his message. In other words, he wanted his Arabia to be place where he could walk hand in hand with Christ. He wanted 1t also to be the place of testing, where men and women would learn to believe that his profession of Jesus Christ was sincere.
 Is it to be wondered at that the Chris
 tian people were afraid of Paul? What the inquisitor Titelmann was to the Christians of the Netherlands Saul was to the early Christians. The mere men tion of his name struck them with con-
 sternation. Methinks we can hear the poor Christians of Damascus crying
 when they heard he was coming 70 God, save us O Christ, rescue us No sooner did the vision appear to the good Ananias saying, Paul is waiting for thee to baptize him." than the good
 Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem =
 that is to say: Lord, l am afraid to trust him. He is an enemy. He is the bjtterest foe we have" And so wherever
 we go we find universal distrust of Paul.
 Thus no sooner was Paul converted than
 he was ready to take a back seat, if
 might use a homely expression. He seemed to say, Lord, let me obliterate
 myself, at least for a little while, for ] thine honor and glory" Can you not find this interpretation of my text to be 0
 reasonable one? Yet how few of us are ready to efface ourselves for the glory of i God!
 | Here, for instance, are men and women
 who have led a disreputable, immoral 1 life Scandals have besmirched their gar | ments everywhere They come into the ! church The church Is suspicious of them At once they become angry. They 1 say that the people are not treating them
 right 'I will go back to my old com | panions in sin. They at least will treat
 me as an equal" Is that right? Is that ! fair? If a man does wrong has not the 1 Christian world right to be suspicious
 of him until he proves that by the grace , of God he intends to do right? Here Is l reformed drunl1ard or a reformed thief. , Has he the same right to the respect of l the world in the first days of his repent
 anee as the man who has been living | near to God for three long years down | in the sands of the Arabian desert? No,
 no, my friends Paul could never have
 had his tremendous influence as a gos- pei evangelist unless he had first been willing to efface himself for Christ. Thus
 may you be willing to go into Arabia for
 Jesus after you have been for years a
 blatant and an unrelenting despiser of l the cross.
 Needed Human Society.
 But there is another fact to which l want to call your attention. Even in
 Arabia. with God and Christ Paul felt
 the need of a human agency to help him over the rough experiences of the Chris 1 tian life. What did he do? Let me read | to you his very words: Neither went up to Jerusalem to them which were | apostles before me, but l went into | Arabia and returned again unto Damas-
 GUS. Then, after three years, l went up | to Jerusalem to see Peter aIsi abode with him fifteen days" Cannot you see | what this means? Why" Paul said to himself, "before I go forth to preach the | gospel I will go and see Peter. I will | find out from him what Jesus himself | said and learn all l can of that divine l life" Paul was a scholar and Peter only an untaught fisherman, but Paul was l willing to take the learners place. Can