The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1909-04-15
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson Hl.-Second Quarter, For
April 18, 1909.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Text of the Lesson, Acts tx, 100.
Memory Verses IS, 16-GoIden Text,
Acts tx, +commentary Prepared by
Rev. o. M. Stearns.
Copyright, 1905, by American Press Association
When the Holy Spirit records any
thing several times He must desire to
call special attention to it. as we sug-
gested in a recent lesson. He must
therefore intend that we give good
heed to the account of Saul's CONVEX
sion, recorded In this lesson and in
chapters xii and XVI. and also to
PaulS statements elsewhere concern
ing it, as in Gal. i, 1917; 1 Tim. 1, H.
II. This chosen vessel Verse 15) was
permitted to blindly go his own way
till the time came, which God had al
ways foreseen, to stop him and turn
him about in the right direction. Let
all those who are pleading with God
for wayward sons or daughters, hus-
bands or wives or possibly for parents
be encouraged by this wonderful man
Hesitation of the grace Of God, and
may they hear the Spirit saying, "Thy
prayer is heard duke i, 10; Acts <,
81; 1 John v, IA, 15). and then patient
ly but expectantly await Gods time to
make manifest the answer. Could
there possibly be a seemingly more
hopeless cas than this one? And yet
see how w~ondrously God wrought
when His time came. Notwithstand-
ing the triumphant death of Stephen
and all that Saul must have heard and
seen at that time he still continued his
murderous career and was on his way
to Damascus in the same spirit when
suddenly from being a prosecutor of
Jesus he became His most devoted
bond slave and faithful witness. He
saw the risen and assembled Jesus
(verse 10 as truly as Stephen did; he
heard himself addressed by name in
that double form by which the Lord
addressed Abraham and Moses and
Samuel; he was convinced of his great
sin and, with true penftence, cried,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to doP'
Soon it was reported everywhere
that he who prosecuted us in times
past now preacheth the faith which
once he destroyed (Gal. i, 23). The
light from heaven was a great light
above the brightness of the sun, and
Paul said, 81 could not see for the
glory Of that light" What blessed
blindness, a sight of Jesus making us
blind to all else! May it ever be SO
with us, blind and deaf to all but the
face and voice of Jesus. The LORDS
question, "Why persecutest thou Me?'
was in the Hebrew tongue, for which
there must have been some reason.
Was it because Saul prided himself on
being IAN Hebrew of the Hebrews?"
(Phil. iii, 81 Our Lords reply to Sauls
"Who art thou, Lord?" was, II am
Jesus Of Nazareth whom thou perse-
cutest,' the name that Saul had so
hated and that so many proud Jews
hate to this day. When Saul saw the
hated one as the Lord OF. Glory his
mouth was forever shut concerning
himself and his previous good opinion
of himself, and from that day he was
ready to die for Him in whose right
eouSness alone he now rejoiced Phil.
Iii, 8, 81. The humbled man was three
days without sight or food or drink
(verse 81. He was led by the hand into
Damascus and must have had a never
to be forgotten experience in the reve,
lation of his Lord and of himself which
came to him those days. Unless we
can truly say from the heart Rom. vii,
10, we need to see more clearly the
beauty of the Lord until the constant
utterance of our heart becomes mot I,
but Christ" mot 1, but the grace OF
God" (Gal. ii, 90; 1 Cor. XIV, 10). 1t is
refreshing to meet in this record a
! good man named Ananias, for the
other one of chapter V 81 dishonored
the name that to this day it is a rare
thing to find a man of that name. 1t is
so much more easy to smirch a name
than to redeem it. How careful we
should be not to dishonor or bring re
proach upon that worthy and beauti-
full name by which we are called, the
name of Jesus Christ u Lord JAS.
II, y.
Let us also remember that an Ill
treatment Of those who bear that
name e to Him Ill treatment OF
Himself, even as He taught when here
In His humiliation, "He that despiseth
you despiseth me- duke K, 16l.
How honored this Ananias was to be
the Lords messenger to Saul with
such a message, Receive thy sight
and be filed with the Holy GhOst!'
Andrew was greatly honored to be
permitted to bring his brother Simon,
| as we think of the 5000 who came
through Simon Peter at Pentecost, but
think of what God wrought through
| Saul. If the humble man who empha-
sized to the young stranger in the con-
! gregation that stormy morning that he
never would be happy till he looked
and lived' had never led another soul
to Christ than G.. II. Sturgeon, would
he not have been hoRored beyond
measure?
A chosen vessel to bear His name
before gentfles and kings and the chill
dren of Israel. to know His will and
see Him and hear His voice and be
His witness, to open peoples eyes and
turn them from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan unto God
that they might receive forgiveness Of