Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-07-14
All things betray thee, who be-
trayest Me-"

All things betray thee, who be-
trayest Me-"
"And then after the chase had gone
on and on.
Love still pursuing, the Voice final
ly says,
10; all, all things fly thee. for thou
Strange. piteous. futile thing.
Wherefore should any set thee love
apart?
Seeing none but I makes much Of
naught," (He said).
"Alack. there knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble
Save Ne. save only Me-"
And this was the reason for the
conversion of Saul-the unmerlted'
illirnitable love of God in Jesus the
Christ. Nothing Saul had done, noth-
ing Saul could do. could stop that
wondrous love from pursuing him
Christ. All the time Saul had been
making havoc of the church, that
marvellous love Of God had been on
his heels, spurn it though he con-
tinued to do-until that day near
Damascus, when the heavens parted
and the light Of the world shone IN
his eyes, and he had vision and
heard the voice.
The words were in his own natlVe
tongue: saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou Me?" But Saul had never seen
the speaker, had never heard his
thou. Lord?'' And the answer was,
IT am Jesus the NaZarene whom thou
persecutest. 1t is hard for thee to
kick against the goods And then
in a moment Saul understood; he mad
been wrong all the time, and STEPHEN
and the others had been right; he
knew that Jesus had been raised from
the dead; he knew that therefore he
was the Christ who should come; he
knew that He was the Son of God,
and therefore not the Saviour OF the
Jews only, but also Of the Gen
tiles. For Saul had not had an
epileptic fit, or a sunstroke; nor nad
he been struck by lightning nor '1al-
len from his horse accidentally, nor
excitement-no, he had seen Jesus
in Heaven, he had beheld the glory
Of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This he claimed repeatedly (Acts
1926, / Cor. 81; I. Cor $3.50. NO
other explanation could account Tor
the sudden and complete change that
took place in his life.
the way III WHICH, llO b" cAo SO1t ~ 49,
gave him the text for all Of his ser.
mons. He preached the gospel OF
The grace Of God. 1t was all of grace
with Saul. He was a loyal religlon-
ist. but he was cruel, proud, V1ndlc-
tive and bloodthirsty. He could not
claim salvation through any WORKS;
but in the very midst of his SIN love
arrests him and in the tones of great
est tenderness pleads with him. and
saves him from himself. Surely that
was all of grace. And Paul recog-
nized it when he wrote to the Epne-
SLAMS (Ch. 2:8) and to the Corlnth-
ians. ''By the grace of God, l am
what I am" q Cor. 1870
who?-what2
There was but one thing for Saul
to do in the presence OF sucn rove:
When he found out Wno. II was
whom he had seen and heard When
he realized how the goods had been
hurting him in his rebellious spirit,
there was just one question possible,
"What?'' What wilt thou?" What
wilt thou have me to do?" That was was
the question he was ASKING anu
obeying the rest of his life.
What change han es P Pr I'D tb n1g0 mo.
ment-now blind, humbled, no pride
of power, no lust for vengeance, sur
rendered. What Wilt Thou have me
to do Lord?' go into the city and
there it shall be told thee" .
Of the objections of Ananlas' o.
his free conversation with Ch 1d1Si,, ot
his eentleness and faith, much might
be Written. He yielded when ne g
heard Saul was praying. What was
Saul praying about those three Jay
For forgiveness, for guidance, enr
pressing his gratitude TO COO II,
rro0n9 Vas. yes. III
answer to that three-day prayer
Ananias was sent. Brother Saul
What strange music that must nave
been to him who had come to muroer
this very man: . 1,;s o.,es
ba was haptized, thereby expressing
his faith in the Lord Jesus Chrast
and his dependence upon Him. TOT
those three days when he was smut
m in darkness had made him appre-
ciate what he had never felt BEFORE
his utter depend.eInUceii 1o ana s1 1hef nc
was filled with ~; the IN noi 8am Ipit Chris
tianity was Christ. He became the
slave Of Christ; he was crucl1le'd1
with Christ, and the world lost az
of it's charm for him. He had rel
lowship with Christ; he nYeo -, IN
Nobodv else in the world was con-
verted like Saul was. You were NO. no.
nor was I: because our previous life
was not what his had been. God mas ma.
a different experience for every diff
ferent child. / do not remember
when I was born again, but am
quite sure l am alive unto God now.
Some, like Saul, can remember the
exact day and spot. But in SauPs ex-
perience and in yours and mine there
are certain elements that always en-
ter.
1T is the result of loves search;
I'VE love Him because He first loVed
at is not because of anything
we have done or can do, but in spite
Of everything we have done or may
do. It is all Of grace-lt never
comes until we realize that we have
no claim on Him at all, but in con-
seriousness of our utter dependence
upon God throw ourselves upon HIS
mercy.
SIT comes only when by the eye
Of faith we catch q vision of Jesus
Christ, crucified for our sins, raised
again for our justification, assembled
and interceding for us at the throne
of the father, and coming again for
us that we may be with Him Tor
4.-Before it our question is al
ways ..who?;",. afterwards 1t is al
ways WHAT"