Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-29

He.-GdIdlldlio lI'%O'
| Emerson saws that God once in
! hundred wears or so creates a great man
and then breaks that mold forever"
| Paul was one Of Gods great men. Our
/ lesson calls for a review OF the life ana
| letters of this eminent religious leader
character and career as missionary.
Our first three lessons supplied us with
| the kew of his greatness. m the ar
ceStry of Paul we can trace the prepd-
ration for his greatness Being born IN
| TarSuS of Jewish parents. he inherited
I the characteristics of the Hebrew race,
| that has made them the founders OF me
J three world religions and the ATTITUDE
! toward the other nations that enabled
/ him as a missionary to enter new heidS
I and win converts for Christ and His
church. Although his father was
Roman citizen. which gave Paul IKE
position, he was a thorough Jew in MS
! faith and practice In the home life
Paul was given that religious training
and desire to glorify God which is the
| thread of consistency" that runs through
! his whole life He was deeply religious
! and spiritual from his childhood days.
| The spiritual secret of his greatness,
genius and forgetting ability. he stated,
perhaps unconSciously, in his letter TO
| the Galatians. Il live. yet not l, 1t is
| Christ that liveth in me-" On his way
| to crush the Christian forces in DsmaS-
Gus the hero of our lesson met and saw
| the risen Christ Ever since he had me-
! Stephen in debate and been mastered
| bv his arguments and had approved OF
! the stoning to death of the first martyr
he had not been able to find spiritual
peace. His efforts to destroy by pers2-
cution the early church did not remove
the memory of Stephens face and his
prayer for the enemies who were taxing
his life When the prosecutor met Jesus
and surrendered to Him just outside II
Damascus he experienced a spiritual
changes. so that henceforth it was not
Saul but Christ living in the life Of tAe
former prosecutor that made him
great preacher of the gospel.
PauI's Ministry.
Paul's ministry did not open with any
signs of his greatness. He found him
self distruSted by his former friends and
foes. Through much tribulation we
enter the kingdom of" power The man
was thoroughly prepared by his knowl-
edge of various languages and cultures
for a cosmopolitan career as mission
airy. He possessed as valuable asset
thorough knowledge of the best of dis
D6TSSQ anu FdlcSlldH JEWISH NuStUlilS
as well as their ritualistic requirements.
His education under Gamsliel had made
him a master of the Old Testament and
its Interpretation. He was familiar with
the best in Greek and Roman life, law
and learning. Nevertheless Paul had to
suffer before ne could completely under
stand the message of the Christ. His
failure to win a large hearing even
among the church membership in Da-
maScus and Jerusalem helped to fit him
for his work among the GentileS.
He had learned his message amidst
the solitude of the mountains, where
God had spoken to Moses, and been
ministering unto the Christians in Tar
sus, when Barnabas visited him and
secured his cooperation IS co-pastor
of the church, that had been estab-
lished in Antioch, composed largely of
Gentiles who had been converted. 1t
was during his work at that place that
the Holy Spirit made clear to Barnabas
and Paul that they should enter the
missionary field. The success of the work
at Antioch had convinced both Barn
abaS and Paul of the possibilities among
the Gentiles. His old prejudices had
been removed and he was willing to be
obedient to the vision and desires of the
Lord Jesus. Paul was a mystic and
the memory of what Jesus had told the
apostle kept suggesting to him that the
work should be enlarged and that he
should enter the missionary field.
Blazing the Missionary Path.
Under the leadership Of the Holy
Spirit the Antioch Church consecrated
two of their pastors TO work among the
people in other lands. Paul had pas
sion for souls that gave him driving
power, enabled him 10 master difficulties
and push on to win new fields and con-
verts for Christ and His church. He
loved the Jews because they were his
own stock He made it rule to preach
the gospel to them first. When per-
secution or refusal to listen to his mes
sage came. then he turned to the Gen
tiles He knew that Christ had died
for them and he never left any city
without making an effort to win both
Jews and Gentiles for the Master.
He was never discouraged, because he
was conscious that he was doing the
Lords will and work. He faced diff
cuties with the assurance that they
would be mastered because the work
was the Lords. Whenever distractions
appeared. he placed the result in the
/ hands of Christ, and sought to DO His
will Conscious of success, because OF
lIlS LOTO ) pIeStIlCc, UuI pOoC anu POWCI,
Paul exhibited an uncOnquerable spirit
and endured all forms Of distress for
the glory of Christ Jesus. The Master
old not fail His servant. He protected
him and enabled MIN to escape from
Damascus. Jerusalem and TheSsalonlca
when Pauls life was threatened. He
delivered him from death at Lystra
and sustained him while in prison at
Philippi. where the earthquake de.
livered him from the prison and opened
the way for the conversion of the jailer
and his family.
Missionary Methods and Messages.
Paul's methods were along the lines
| that Jesus gave in the great commits
ision-evangeliStic enlistment and edu-
! cational. He supported himself work
( ing at his trade during the day time
and preached at every opportunity that
, was open to him. He adapted the gospel
| to the character of his hearers, seek
/ ing always to find point OF contact
! that would enable him to preach the
| gospel of the risen Lord to them.
When they accepted Christ as their
! Savior he or one of his helpers bap-
! tized them, and organized the new con-
verts into churches. He taught the
members the basic facts of the Masters
! life. He unfolded unto them the funda-
mental principles of the Christian faith
and the ethics of conduct that should
! be seen in the individual lives of the
| members OF the churches who were
united in the Christian fellowship and
service.
He was adamant and unmovable in
reference to the fundamental and es-
sential principles. While he loved