The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-11-27

many who wanted to strangle it
in its cradle, and except for one
man they might have succeeded.
Why. Saint Paul happened, to Be
sure! He himself never would say
it happened" and we do not mean
that it was happen-so, chance
occurrence. He believed to his dy-
ing day that God planned it, and
we may well believe he was right.
ceRfvented With Christ
Saints do not become saints over
night. But they have to start some
where, somehow. The amazing
thing about Paul Is that he did an
absolute about-face, after a Ger
tain day near the city of Damascus
in Syria. He was, to put it in one
word, converted That means, in
still palmer English, turned around,
faced backward from the way the
person was going, started in the
opposite direction.
It is quite a mistake to think
that unless you are converted just
as Saint Paul was converted, you
haven't. been converted at all. That
is as silly as saying that if you
haven't married a girl exactly like
my wife. you aren't really married.
AS Saint Paul was unique char
acter any way you look at him, his
conversion would be unique too.
Further, his situation was de-
cidedly strange one. He was
professional religious man, en-
gagged in wholesale murder. He
WAS a man who belonged to one
of the strictest religious sects of
that or any other era, and yet en-
gagged in trying to smash up people
vino were actually better than he
was. He was man who was pas
sionately devoted to serving God,
Spreading his time making life mis-
cradle (when he could not actually
kill them) for persons who under
stood God better than he did.
A man like that. you would
think. is not likely to have a Con
ventional" or average religious ex-
perience. Budding Saint Pauls
since his time may have had some
what similar conversions; but John
Doe usually has the John Doe type
of conversion.
cssfvssted With Christ
For all that, while much in the
circumstances of Paul's conversion
Ito use . name he did not actually
bear till some time later) was pc
culiar, bizarre or awe-inspiring as
you might think it. still basically
1t was Christian conversion, with
the basic Christian elements plain
ly in it. First of all, it was con-
fronting Christ. It was a kind of
miracle in Paul's case. The miracle
may not be 50 spectacular in other
cases but Christ is always there
at the beginning Of every really
Christian life It may be Confu-
clan scholar reading q Bible for
the hrst time; it may be an artist
attracted by picture Of the Last
Supper; It may be q French ag-
nnstic, seeing Christ in his wife's
character; or 4 n1iddle-aged man
remembering one day how his
mother used to pray. Somehow or
other, m cnnversion is based On
this meeting between IA individual
and Christ
The First I've Questions
Years later Paul told the story
Of his conversion, to some people
who at the moment were bent on
killing him He added something
to the story told in Acts 1.-THE best
nnanusrripts)- He relates two ques-
tions, not one. which he asked in
that great and awesome hour near
Damascus. The first question:
Who art Thou, Lord? and the
second one: What viii you have
me to do?" fSee Acts 22.) On
those two questions hung all his
future life. Note three things here:
he put his questions now to the
highest Authority; he wanted e
know all about Jesus. and he put
hds life At the disposal Of his Lord
This ID the eSsEnce Of conversion.
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