The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-31


against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt /
thou have me to do? And the LORD |
said unto him, Arise, and go into the |
CITY, and it shall be- told thee what !
thou must do. And the men which |
journeyed with him stood speeches.,
hearing a voice, but seeing no man. !
And Saul arose from the earth; and
when his eyes Were opened, ne saw no
man; but they led him by the hand,
and brought him into Damascus And
he was three days without sight, and /
neither did eat nor drink"
What Saul needed was light, and he
got it, with an intensity and an album
dance that felled him. AS a trained
philosopher, the young scholar would
have reasoned that there could not
be any greater light than that OF the
sun at noon. But the light of the
face of the gloritied Christ made the
Syrian sun seem as darkness A great
many persons are arguing, by what
they call natural laws" against the
phenomena of religion; yet the eN-
perience of countless saints, and thank
God, often of the sceptics themselves,
confutes the abstract philosophising of
the overwise. Saul learned that day,
what myriads of saints in glory al
ready knew, hat the Lamb who IS
the light of the City Celestial is the
very brightness of God, before whose
face the sun is dimmed.
Just as if to reveal the foolishness
of mortal wisdom, this young scholar,
this logician, this philosopher, was
converted by an experience, and not
by an intellectual process. All through
his wonderful ministry we find the
great apostle appealing to his eXper-
fence. What he personally knew OF
Christ meant more to him than all
the operations OF the greatest brain
that ever has worked within a human
, head. That experience on the DamaS-
! Gus road made Paul a Christo-centric
Christian, and gave the Church
Christie centric theology.
When Heaven Opened.
Of all the mighty implications of
this story the greatest is the precious
| truth wrapped up in the phrase Il
am Jesus 1t means that the very
same Jesus is in heaven who was on
| earth All the solicitude that He
showed when He walked the f1eids
of GaIilee with His fisher friends He
carried with Him to HIS Father
| throne He could not remain seated
while Stephen was being stoned and
He could not keep silent while such
a possible disciple as Paul was to be
converted. Our too-sophisucated time
| is prone to rob the risen Redeemer
of this His rarest crown-Hls concern
for His children on earth and all
that touches them. The enthroned
| Christ is not too great to give heed TO
the prayers of little children or to be
affected by the cries of tempted ana
suffering saints His eye is on the
streets of our city even as it was on
the road to Damascus
! By the way, the guides still point
| out the traditional site of Saufs con-
| version. Likewise, the most popular
resort of tourists is the street call
ed straight" Damascus is better known
to the Christian world for what hap
pened there to Paul than for any of
its heaped-up events in connection
with kings and conquerors 1t IS
| worth while to visit the scene of God s
dealings with Saul in Damascus, but 1t
is better worth while to behold what
God is doing today in the lives of men
and women The pilgrimages that
are being made to Billy Sunday taber-
nacles and to rescue missions are
worth while. Perhaps, as a result of
this lesson, some teacher or parent
| will take a group of boys to visit a
rescue mission, where SauPs Damas-
Gus road experience is being repeated
today.
The Obscure Man Who Dared.
While we are thinking about what
befell Saul and his instant Obedi-
ence to the heavenly vision, we must
not overlook the other character who
is named in the story. 1t is easy to
talk only about the preacher or the
evangelist and to speak of church
work as if done by them alone. In
| truth, as everybody WHO kHOWS dHS
thing about churches understands, 1t
is the plain folk, whose names are
never mentioned in the newspaper
reports of church affairs, who really
bear the burden of the work. The
angels know that the prayers of the
people prevail more than the preach
ing of the pastors. 1t would be a
surprise to all concerned if we could
know who really is who in the aver
age church.
The obscure man who emerges in
this story is a Christian named An
anias, a man of truer quality than the
famous one who was smitten for his
) ayarice and falsehood. Let US turn
to the text for a description of An
: anias's part in this great days work
: which affected all the subsequent his
tory in the world:
And there was a certain dis
ciple at Damascus, named Ana
Mas; and to him said the Lord in
l a vision, Ananias. And he said,
Behold, I am here, Lord. And the
=. Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
into the street which is called
Straight, and inquire in the house
: of Judas for one called Saul, of
Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
: and hath seen in a vision a man
named Ananias, coming in, and
: putting his hand on him, that he
might receive his sight.
Then Ananias answered,
Lord, 1 have heard by many of
this man, how much evil he hath
done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
and here he hath authority from
the chief priests to bind all that
call upon thy name.
= But the Lord said unto him,
t Go thy way: for he is a chosen
t vessel unto me, to bear my name
before tie Gentiies, and kings,
l and the children of Israel: for I
will show him how great things
= he must suffer for my names
: sake, and Ananias went his way,
and entered into the house; and
putting his hands on him said,
Brother Saul the Lord, even Je-
Y sus, that appeared unto thee in
the way as thou earnest, hath sent
me. that thou mightest receive