The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-12
REV. JAMES W. MORRIS. D. D.

Ne hath seen man named AMANDA. com
ing in and laying his hands him. that he
might receive his sight."-Acts liz L.
Picture 10 yourselves tho band OF
stern prosecutors. hurrying across the
syrian sands Mounted upon the ships
of tho desert. the patient. often swift
footed camel. they press eagerly for
ward on their journey. Charged with
a mandate of the state. a commissio
that concerns the welfare OF the peo-
pie OF God. they must not tarry. Soon
shall rise before their fevered ewes
bursting out of the waterless wastes.
with startling contrast. the fresh
green shining, Valley of Damascus
and the white palaces and glittering
spires Of the great city.
~ their head. more ardent and more
intense than all the rest. presses on
ward the young zealot. tho youthful
leader of the Pharisees. distinguished
at once for his scholarship and his
hisotry, in whose heart there flowed
hatred OF tho dcspised Nazarcnes
hotter than tho sands under his
camers feet. tiercer than the burning
rays of the sun above him.
But 10. suddenly men and camels
como to stand. a horrid shadow
sweeps abruptly across the fierce sun
at its fiercest. And yet no cloud is
in the sky; il is the shadow of a
greater light than that of the Syrian
sun; 1t is the Shekinah OF Gods pres
ence that quenches for a moment that
midday glare.
They All fall to tho ground: they all
near out of the shadow of that great
light an awful voice. But Saul alone
gets the message; Saul alone gets the
divine call--nay, Saul sees. IL looks
up into Il wonderful face gentle So
rene, accusing. He is pierced to the
soul by the mild and magnificent eye.
And then all is over The man arises
dazed blind and cropping. ne is led
into Damascus. and for three DAYS
nauEht comes between him and that
heavenly vision. to which now he must
be forever obeiient.
Ana so Saul waits: he prays: he
sees in the gloom Ananias coming to
! comfort him. At last. the human
hand completes the divine work: the
human voice supplements the heavenly
voice. saul sees again. and his phy-
steal sight means new eyes 10 lool:
out upon all the world. He breaches
Jesus. and in that preaching the world
enters upon now epoch in it's spir-
itudl history, For this man is not only
.,od chosen vessel TO plant the
church in all the Roman empire. but
also the human agent through which
the Holy Spirit should reveal most
profoundly the mind of the Christ TO
the children OF men.
WHY HUMAN AID Is NEEDED
TO COMPLETE DIVINE PLAN
!. 1t is surprise that any human
agency was needed 10 complete and
make effective the miracle of God
Without doubt the Author OF the great
light-He of the transcendent form
and roice-miEht. had He chosen
have completed the work. and have
gully equipped the smitten Pharisce
Tor his God given task. But for best
and wisest fulnllment of the divine
touch. For saul. for the church. for
full witness to the world there was
need of the mediation of Ananias.
1t has ever been so. Gods wonders
or redemption and grace. Gods mira
cles OF mercy. ever come through hu
! man ministries
Does lie free His people from the
expressions of q heather tyrant? He
bares HIS arm. and confounds not ouiv
| the rulers, but also the gods of Egypt;
Moses and Aaron. the medium of His
wonders.
, Does lie wish To rebuke an apostatc
and idolatrous generation? IL is with
famine and fire and tempest that lie
deals with them; but stll through the
very human voice of Elijah
Is il a profane and arrogant King
that He would Judge" The awful hand
writes the cryptic doom upon the shin
ing walls of the palace. but il is Dan
lei that passes sentence and pro-
nounces judgment.
And when AT last, in the fulness of
time the worlds redemption and man
kinds renewal were at hand. il was a 9
born of woman and made under law
that the only begotten of the
Father came. 1t is in human lowIi-
ness that the Christ OF God fulfls the
wonders OF Gods grace.
The Word had breath and wrought
With human hands the creed of
creeds'
And to-day the completion and the
realization Of Gods miracle Of re-
demrtion OF the worlds release from
tho bondage and the blindness OF sin.
await the human link Of consecrated
devotion that shall unite Gods
grace and mans need.
OBSCURE AND UNKNOWN MAN
- MADE USE OF by COD
.. Little is known OF Ananias. The
sacred writer is reticent. He comes
into the field of tho worlds vision. lust
once. aud once only. and only for one"
But we do know of him that which
made him the fit instrument in Gods
hands for perfecting the conversion
of the greatest man of the age An
anias-just "A certain disciple"-was
deNout IN all matters of the law, and
he was held in high repute by men
who knew him. and. above all. he was
close TO the Lord in intimate fellow
snip. ready to recognize and TO obey
His voice: man who. had favor with
God and man. and whose fellowship
with the Lord VAS constant and prac-
teal. such the characteristics OF this
chosen messenger.
Such sober, righteous and godly