Evening star., 1928-12-29

Emerson says that God once in a
hundred years or so creates a great
man and then breaks that mold for
ever" Paul, the apostle to the gen.
tiles, was one of the worlds great men.
During our study of the life and letters
of Paul the evidence Of his greatness
has been impressed upon us. No person
can follow the life of this eminent
leader as we have during the last six
months series of lessons without feel
| ing that he has been brought by his
studies face to face with one of the
outstanding men of all times.
If we seek to understand the secret
of his position and place in the history
of the world, we will f.id that various
elements entered into mis- career. AL
| through a Hebrew Of the Hebrews by
| birth, he was born in TarsuS, city
noted for its commerce and culture.
Ships of all nations upon the Mediter-
| ranean brought men of all races
to the streets of his native city. The
presence of a Greek university gave it
the atmosphere of Greek culture. 1t
was the capital of a Roman colony.
His father was a Roman citizen. This
shows that as boy he grew up in the
environment that would give him a
broad foundation for the development
of great personality. During his stu
dent days in Jerusalem Paul found
himself, and the impress of his famous
teacher, Gamaliel, helped to mold his
character along religious lines that en-
abled him to take front rank as q
rabbi. He quickly obtained member
ship in the Sanhedrin, probably due to
his skill as defender of the faith.
His contest with Stephen, the first
myrtyr of the early church. started q
spiritual ferment in the soul of this
brilliant young rabbinical leader that
eliminated in his conversion while
seeking to exterminate the Church of
Christ in Damascus. He had opposed
Christianity because the idea of a Suf-
fering Messiah, he believed was con-
trary to the teachings of the Old TeSta-
ment and the hopes of his national
faith. 1t was a fat contradiction of
everything that he had been taught
to believe, and he believed that he was
doing Gods will in prosecuting the early
church.
ChriStianity's Greatest Champion.
His conversion marked the COM
mencement of a career that made him
the greatest champion of Christianity.
Deismann has pointed out that in
Paul's personality there existed room
for opposing principles which would
irretrievably shatter small man." He
was a living example of strength
made perfect in weakness" for under
the urge of his indominant will he de-
veloped in his weak body physical
power sufficient to plant not only Chris
tianity in Europe, but with it the seeds
of modern civilization. He was a man
of great humility, yet he possessed con-
f1dence in the ultimate power of Chris
tianity to conquer all its foes through
his faith in Christ Jesus. He shrank
from arrogancy, and yet had a won-
derful consciousness of his strength"
and ability to do all things through
Christ, who strengthened him.
There were periods of depression, but
he quickly overcame them and was car
ried away with his assurance of victory.
He had heart as tender as woman's,
yet he dictated messages that fairly
burned with their lightning like flashes
and severity. This gave him a tre-
mendous influence over all men, who
either followed his leadership or knew
that he was opposing them with tre-
mendous power. In his final message,
that formed part of last Sundays
lesson, we saw how. 80 years after his
conversion, Paul looked back with sat-
isfaction upon his laborS. He had
sought to exterminate "the prince Of
the power of the air." for he considered
that he was his personal enemy because
of Satan's antagonism to Christ. He
tried to bring all the forces of his per-
Sonality under the absolute control of
Christ. He endeavored to preserve the
purity of the church, develop the faith
of the believers and proclaim the truth
of the gospel among all nations by
preaching and practicing Christian
principles.
A Worldwide Ministry.
Paul in interpreting Christ found
that Jesus planned for the winning the
world in his great commission, that
ordered His followers to attempt to
evangelize the world, have their con-
verts publicly profess their faith and
see to it that they were educated to
observe the fundamental principles of
Christ's faith. Our studies for the past
quarter have followed his ministry from
his work in conQuering the idolatry OF
the Grecian Association in EpheSus up
to the end of his career in Rome. We
have seen him courageously face idola-
hold of pagan luxury in Corinth, face
the philosophers of Greece in Athens
and master the power of paganism In
Rome, its political capital. He had no
army to defend him. He had no fear
of the high priest or proconsul-Jewish
mob or a Roman emperor. God had
called him and he was moved by the
Holy Spirit to plant the seed of the
| gospel in strategic centerS in a. cam
palgn to win the Roman empire fol-
| Christ and His church. We saw him
assail the fortresses of Satan at Thes-
salonica, Jerusalem, Corinth, Athens
I and Rome. Our first lesson of the
quarter gave us view Of Paul seeking
to overcome the worship of Diana by
winning the EphesianS for the Lord
Another lesson revealed him encounter
| ing the prejudiceS of his own nation
! and a Jewish mob threatening his life
when he was seeking to fulfill religious
rites in the temple in accorance with
their nationalistic faith. His demand:
of his rights as Roman citizen re-
suited in his imprisonment and the enc
of his freedom to preach the goSpe
where and when he wished. He de-
clined to use graft as means of Sc
curing his freedom from gentle oft1-
cials and fearlessly faced the court
Caesarea, with its indifference tt
morality and justice, by preaching tx
them the gospel of Christ and His
claims for their love. When the chains
of imprisonment and prison doors
sought to limit and stop his missionary
activities he lifted his soul to God ir