The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-09-14

Paul was rescued from the mOD ny
the prompt action Of Lysias. and was
saved from scourging by revealing his
Roman citizenship I'll :27-22 :29).
Every true life, real social service, pa
triotism and national righteousness
rest upon the value of conversion to
Christ. The fundamental message OF
the Christian church must always be
regeneration. With this message Billy
Sunday is gripping the large cities,
and DR.. John R. Mott is reaching the
student life of the world.
1. Paui's Account Of His Early Life
". 1-5). BY his use Of the Greek tongue
he obtained permission to deliver this
address, and by his wise use OF the
Jewish language he gained the atten-
ton Of the excited crowd. Paul as
serted his Jewish origin. (Acts 21-39).
Tarsus, where he was born. had uni
versity which rivaled those Of Athens
and Alexandria, and Paul had probably
heard its great philosophers. Paul was
an educated man; he was brought up
In Jerusalem from his early boyhood
at the feet Of Gamaliel its greatest
teacher. Thus his religious training
was according to the law Of the fa-
theirs, and as touching the righteous
ness which Is Of the law" he was
blam eless (Phil, 3 :6). He was Jealous
for God, doing what he thought he
would have him do even when "perse-
cuted this way" the way of forgive
81 hf
Jesus said, II am the way" Paul was
at this time an instrument in the hands
Of the rulers, carrying out their plans,
but he exceeded them in his zeal for
"the traditions of our fathers (Gal.
:14). He was not at all like those
Pharisees whom Christ condemned as
"white sepulchers." He was not what
we would term today, "a bad man..
He could not have done his work or oc-
cupied his position if he had been. He
was sincere in a bad cause; he was
jealous in a mistaken religion; he was
honestly on the wrong side. Politically
and religiously prominent and active,
he was in error still.
H. Pauls Turning Point w. GID.
Paul seems to pick out three different
crises in this rehearsal. ID His inter-
view with Christ, when he saw Jesus
as he really was in his glory, living
risen Savior (Cor. 9:1; 1879. He had
positive proof of the resurrection from
the dead. This proof convicted him
Of sin. He had heard Jesus call. He
had asked Jesus what he would have
him TO do. He was ready to obey, and
something was given him to do. The
light which he met on that journey ar
rested him in his mad course. The
voice gave him his directions. In obedi-
ence to the command, "Arise and co."
he gained knowledge and skill. CD He
lights upon his interview with Ananias
". 14) where he received personal help
from an experienced Christian. In the
darkness and conflict of those three
days of loneliness the questions must
have been: Could he leave rank, honor,
friends? Could he enter the service Of
the despised one and suffer reprOach,
danger and death? During this con-
fiict he must have had before him the
vision of what God would have him do,
and the work for which he chose him
wv. 1919. His vision and commission
constituted strong motive for right
decision. During the vision he came
into the light. and confessed his faith
by his baptism. AS result of those
three days and his interview with
Ananias he came to know Gods will
more fully. The next step was of
course 90 his public avowal (See Acts
2 :3S; Heb. O:22; Rom. 10: 13; l Cor.
GID. The purpose of Paul's whole
life and mission was changed. For each
of us, in our own degree, conversion
brings similar changes of life. Have
we experienced this great transforma-
ton?
III. PauPs Dangerous Position wv.
2O-3O). The mob gave him audience
until his words about the Gentiles. His
declaration that God had commanded
him to go upon a mission to the Cen
tiles was an offense to the Jews, and
his words fell like spark upon an
inflammable mass of fanaticism." They
UTOkc Out luIO u ~ CuAy VI CASklCuCAI,
and made preparations to stone him.
An Oriental mob is hideous beyond de-
gree, bowling, yelling, cursing, gnash-
ing their teeth, fiinging their arms.
casting off their garments ". 23),
throwing dust into the air to relieve
their excitement and to express their
execration. 1t was a manifestation of
their uncomfortable rage. The opposi-
ton Of mob is no proof that the
person it curses is wrong. The wrong
was not In Paul but In the mob; the
cause of the famine In Ahab's time was
not in Elijah; the commoti0n of our
day is not with the reformers, but with
those who uphold the evils which
should be reformed. Paul used every
power he had to aid his fortune-his
Roman citizenship, his social position.
his knowledge of law and his training
and quick wit. The chief captain who
spoke Latin and Greek would not un-
derstand what Paul was saying in
Hebrew (Aramaic), but from the fury
of the people he concluded that Paul
must be some great criminal, and
therefore ordered that Paul should be
compelled by torture to confess his
crime. While they were binding Paul
he quietly asked the officer If 1t were
lawful for them to scourge Roman