The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-06-17
Great Personages
of the Bible
By
REV. LEONARD A. BARRETT
Paul

q J. Co@@f-e3
~ ences in the life of the Apostle
Paul. his visit with Peter is one of the
most important. After Paul had seen
the Lord in the vision on the Damas-
Gus highway, he asked What wilt
Thou have me dor" In answer to this
question he was given his commission
to go and preach the Gospel Paul
deeply appreciated the responsibility
of this new work which opened before
him. He also realized that he was
not sufficiently prepared for the task,
because he had never seen Jesus. He
had heard a great deal about Him, but
he had never come into personal con-
tact with Him. He felt that per-
sonaI contact of this nature was
prime requisite. In the absence of 1t
he was at a great loss. 1t seemed to
him that it was impossible for him
to speak out of the rich depths of
personal experience. AS Jesus had
died, a personal contact was now Inn
possible, except that which was pos
sible in the spiritual sense. Pau,
therefore, endeavored TO find some per-
son who had this personal touch with
Jesus when He was alive. From him
he concluded it would be possible for
him to acquire that which he felt he
so much needed. This explains his
visit with Peter at Jerusalem. We do
not know very much about this visit
so far as the record of it is concerned,
for it is referred to in single br1ef
sentence: '@Then after three years
went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas,
and tarried with him fifteen days"
What wonderful fifteen days those
must have been. Peter had seen Jesus
in the flesh. He had Travelled with Him
and worked at his side. He was
companion of His for the most part
of His earthly ministry. 1t was the
privilege of Paul to hear from Peter
who had had first-hand information
and experience, all shout the One
whose Gospel he was to preach. Pun
gent, gripping, and inspiring must
have been the many hours of each OF
the fifteen days in which these two
friends talked together concerning the
anu lDCSOelAC "a ats1S 49,
est character of the ages. Whatever
doubt Paul may have had concerning
the message of Jesus prior to this
visit with Peter, it certainly was dis
PEELED as the result of the visit. Peter
did not answer the questions which
Paul doubtless asked by offering him
a mere definition or opinion based
upon what he might have heard others
say, but he told him out of his own
personal experience what he knew
about Jesus. This had an important
effect upon the mind and heart OF
Paul for the reason chat Peter was
his friend, and he had unlimited con
fidence in him. In other words, the
Person whom Paul was commissioned
to declare seemed to him far more
real than He ever could have been
il he had not gained this sense OF
reality from his friend Peter.
It was the sense of The real in art
and literature. as well as in biography,
that appeals to us, for the reason that
there is absent all pretense, sham and
imitation. That which is real grips
ones mind. The artificial and unreal
fail in this respect. for they are
mere pretense. Religion to Paul was
something real, and for that reason 1t
so dominated his career that he be-
came one of the most important and
best known characters in all Biblical
literature.
roo,,t xx,as. h., 10 t,1ro a bYvuohIo mon
although he possessed In remarkable
degree the courage of his convictions.
This was evidenced not only in his
zeal for the religion of Jesus, but also
during that period of his life when
he was prosecuting the very truth
which, after his conversion, he auvo
Gated with all his power and strength.
Paul was summoned to very difficult
task. and he needed the support of all
the courage and strength that it was
possible for him to obtain. He left
the humble home of Peter with a
great light illuminating his heart and
with fire burning in his eyes. He
now possessed the courage to under
take. the work Of telling the world
something concerning truth of which
he had no doubt He knew now that
what he was going to talk about was
absolutely and unquestionably true.
He was convinced of the reality Of his
message.
The following incident is related by
noted astronomer and his friend,
who was philosopher: They were
walking together in garden when
their conversation happened to lead
them to a discussion of religion. The
astronomers name was Newton. He
spoke slightingly OF religion. which
provoked from the philosopher, whose
name was Hadley, the following re-
ply: Newton, when you talk about
astronomy / love to hear what you
say, and / always profit by your re-
marks, for you speak about a subject
concerning which your knowledge is
very great, but when you speak of re-
ligion as you do do not like to hear
you, for you speak about a subject con-
corning which you have little or no