Page images
PDF
EPUB

mentary epithets they may bestow upon him, they have in their hearts no [elevated] conception of him, but just the contrary: he is to them "a root out of a dry ground." St. Paul had the most mean thoughts of Christ previous to his conversion; but after that these mistaken views were entirely corrected. The majesty and power of Christ were exhibited to him with such effect, that he fell at his feet, exclaiming, "What wilt thou have me to do?"* He was from that moment fully convinced that Jesus Christ had "all power in heaven and on earth," that he was seated at the right-hand of God, and that he was in all respects that great and glorious person which the Scriptures represent him to be. His views were extended and enlarged; an interest in him appeared supremely valuable, his approbation supremely desirable. The knowledge of him appeared to be the most excellent knowledge. 2. The Spirit reveals his transcendent beauty and glory. The Scriptures speak much of the transcendent excellency of Christ, the perception of which has laid a foundation for that ardent attachment which the faithful have borne to him in every age. There is a surpassing beauty in the Saviour, which needs but to be perceived in order to eclipse every [other] object, and make it appear insipid and contemptible in the comparison. This beauty is visible in every part of the Saviour's character. In whatever light he is viewed, he is "fairer than the sons of men." "Grace is poured into his lips." "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, wherein they have made thee glad." "Because of the savour of thy good ointments; thy name is as ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins love thee."

It is of him that Isaiah speaks when he foretels the high esteem in which he should be held in a future age: "In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel."+

3. The Spirit reveals the suitableness, fulness, and sufficiency of the Saviour to supply all our wants and relieve all our miseries. The fitness of his office to our situation, and his complete competence to discharge these offices,-the richness and perfection of that provision which there is in Christ, is a principal part of what the Spirit reveals in conversion. In consequence, the soul is imboldened to venture upon him, and, extinguishing all other hope and confidence, to rely upon him alone. This is that reception of Christ which, whosoever gives, is entitled to the privilege of becoming the child of God.

III. We proceed to remark the effect of St. Paul's conversion. Immediately, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." He was not "disobedient to the heavenly vision." He set himself, without hesitation or demur, to discharge the duties of his heavenly vocation.

1. His compliance with the will of Christ was instant, immediate, not like the eldest son in the parable, whom the father commanded to work in his vineyard.§

2. It was universal and impartial. He did not make choice and selection of the more easy duties and less costly sacrifices, but

Acts ix. 6.

† Ps. xlv. 8.

+ Isa, iv. 2.

Matt. xxi. 28, 29.

engaged in the service thoroughly and conscientiously. He spent his life in a series of most laborious, painful, and self-denying services, not living to himself. He spent his life in publishing the name of the Saviour who had been revealed in him.

3. His compliance was constant and persevering.

XIV.

ON THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.

ACTS xxvi. 9-18.-I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blas pheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

1

THE Conversion of St. Paul is one of the most extraordinary facts recorded in the sacred Scriptures; and, whether we consider it as affording a demonstration of the truth of Christianity, or as illustrating the power of divine grace, it is deserving of most deep meditation.

So sudden a transformation of character as this narrative presents must surely be acknowledged to deserve a thorough investigation by all who conceive the principles of human conduct a proper object of attention and inquiry. It is surely natural to look into the cause of such a change, as well as to consider the effects which it produced, and the issue to which it tended.

Every Christian is so well acquainted with the sufferings and labours

of this chief of the apostles, and has contracted so sacred a friendship with the name of Paul, that the circumstances which led to so great a revolution in his character cannot fail to be interesting.

Let us then, in dependence on Divine assistance, take a review of the most striking particulars of this transaction, and endeavour to raise such reflections as the subject may naturally suggest.

I. Let us consider his previous character and conduct, and the actual state of his mind immediately before the change took place.

1. Of the incidents of his early life we are not furnished with very full and distinct information. We learn that he was a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a city famous for its schools of philosophy, as well as for having given birth to some of the most eminent philosophers. His extraction, both on the side of his father and mother, was purely Jewish; but, owing to some benefit conferred on his ancestors he was entitled by his birth to the privileges of a Roman citizen. His education was learned; for he was born at Tarsus, and spent his first years there. He came at an early period to Jerusalem, and was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrim, and a celebrated doctor of the law. This was that Gamaliel who, by his temperate and judicious advice, restrained the violence of the Jewish council, who were determined to put Peter and John to death. His young disciple, Saul, seems to have imbibed nothing of his moderation, but to have been uniformly instigated by a most implacable fury against the Christian cause. From his earliest youth he was of the "strictest sect of the Pharisees," who were not satisfied with complying with every punctilio of the Mosaic law, but adopted a multitude of traditions and ceremonies of human invention, which they placed on the same footing, and deemed equally certain.

In common with the greater part of his countrymen, he held the perpetual and eternal obligation of the Mosaic law, and depended on his legal performances entirely for salvation. Though the sacrifices ordained under the law pointed to the atonement of Jesus Christ, he overlooked this reference; and, full of a confidence in his own rectitude, abhorred and disdained the idea of being indebted for salvation to a crucified Messiah. The poverty and meanness of Christ was an offence to his proud and haughty spirit; and the cross, which he endured for the expiation of sin, was a stumbling-block. He believed, no doubt, in a Messiah; but the person he expected under that character was a great and victorious prince, invested with secular pomp and glory who was to break asunder the Roman yoke, and raise the Jews to the pinnacle of human greatness: and therefore, when he observed that Jesus was so far from accomplishing these hopes that he died the death of the meanest malefactor, he regarded him as a mean and detestable impostor. When he heard the apostles testify his resurrection, assure him that he was exalted at the right-hand of God, and that salvation and the remission of sins were to be sought solely through his blood, his prejudices rose to the utmost violence; and he resented a doctrine which he considered as offering an insult to the whole Jewish nation. As he was taught to look upon the Jews as the

distinguished favourites of the Most High, while he considered the gentiles as reprobate and accursed; he abhorred the thought of that new doctrine which threatened to break down the "wall of partition," and to admit gentiles and Jews to participate in the same privileges. He knew that the apostles were wont to denounce the judgments of God on the Jewish nation, for their rejection of Christ; and though they would naturally maintain a prudent reserve on the subject of their approaching calamities as a nation, they must have been well aware, from several of our Lord's parables, and particularly from his last prophecy, that the time was approaching when the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, its services abolished, the holy city trodden under foot, and the Jewish people be carried captive into all nations. It was some intimation of this kind in the discourses of Stephen which gave birth to the accusation-"We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God." They set up false witnesses, which said, "This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us." Under these impressions, Saul looked upon the Christian sect as directly opposed to the dignity and perpetuity of the temple, the Mosaic law, and all the ceremonies and privileges by which the descendants of Abraham were distinguished from pagan nations.

All the prejudices of education, all the pride of a Jew, and the selfrighteousness of a Pharisee conspired with the violence of youth and eager ambition to acquire the esteem of his superiors, and hurried him to the utmost excesses in opposing the cause of Christ. He seems to have devoted his life to one object,-the utter extirpation, if possible, of the Christian name. When Stephen was stoned, he was consenting to, or rather felt a pleasure in his death; and so zealous did he appear on this occasion, that the witnesses laid down their clothes at his feet while they engaged in this work of blood. The death of Stephen was a signal of a general persecution, in which Saul appears to have taken a very active part: "As for Saul, he made great havoc of the church," saith St. Luke, "entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison."* Having received a commission from the high-priest, he went on the same errand to Damascus ; that if he found there any "of the same way" he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. During his journey he was revolving with delight the confusion and misery he should produce among the defenceless followers of Christ; and when he drew near enough to Damascus to take a view of the city, he no doubt exulted at the idea of being so near his prey. He feasted in the prospect of scattering the sheep of Christ, of dissolving their assemblies, and inflicting upon them the severest sufferings his malice could devise: "he breathed out threatenings and slaughter." Little did he think of the change he was about to undergo ;-little did he [anticipate] that astonishing scene of things

[blocks in formation]

which was about to be laid open to his view. He had hitherto confined his persecutions to Jerusalem and its immediate environs: he had now procured a more enlarged commission, which extended to a remote city. Damascus was nearly two hundred miles distant from Jerusalem. [It was in Syria; and was at that time under the dominion of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, a prince tributary to the Roman empire: under him was a governor who] permitted the interference of the Sanhedrim with the synagogues, [and greatly favoured those that persecuted the disciples of Christ.*]

We cannot conceive a state of mind more unfavourable to Christianity, or less likely to issue in a cordial subjection to Christ, than that of which Saul was possessed at that moment. During a long journey, no misgivings of mind, no emotions of pity towards the innocent objects of his resentment, nor the smallest hesitation respecting the propriety and rectitude of his proceedings, appear to have been felt. Notwithstanding this, he was suddenly stopped in his career, and effectually diverted from his purposes. The means by which this was accomplished, the inspired historian distinctly relates. He was a "chosen vessel," and he was "separated from his mother's womb."‡ The moment was arrived in which the gracious designs of God were to unfold themselves. But with what awful majesty is God pleased to attemper the dispensations of his grace towards guilty men! When he is pleased to show mercy, it is in a manner worthy of himself, in a manner most adapted to stain the pride of man, and to cause "that no flesh should glory in his presence." If the God with whom we have to do appears great and awful in the revelation of his mercy, what will he be in the execution of his justice on the finally impenitent? Hitherto we have witnessed the dominance of pride, bigotry, and passion, suffered to operate without control; we are now to contemplate the interposition of Divine grace in abasing that pride, dispelling that prejudice, allaying the tumalt of that passion. We shall see, in the instance before us, what methods the Lord Jesus adopted, more fully to apprehend the fugitive and the rebel; to soften his heart, and make him become a willing captive at his feet: "And as he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly there shone round about him a light from heaven; and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."§

In his speech before Agrippa, St. Paul relates the circumstance of the light shining round him, in the following manner: "At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me." This light was not indebted to a surrounding obscurity for any part of its lustre on the contrary, it shone forth at midday with a splendour

* See 2 Cor. xi. 32; and Joseph. de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 25. The Romans, says Grotius, allowed the Jews the privilege of "apprehending and beating." not only with regard to the Jews of Palestime, but also out of Palestine, wherever there were synagogues that acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrim in matters of religion. -En.

Acts ix. 15.

VOL. III.-F

Gal. i. 15.

Acts iv. 3-5.

« PreviousContinue »