SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 45, 7 October 1911, Page 2

SUNDAY COLUMN.

THE CONVERSION OF SAUL

Acts 9: 3-G

Sermon by Rev. H. C. Williams, Wales, England 1

The conversion of San! is justly regarded as a groat event —.l momentous crisis in the history, of Christianity. In the light of the narrative described in Acts 9 wo eo that conevrsion is a radical cluing':.. The man who was dead to righteousness and alive to sin becomes dead to sin and alive to righteousness. Different means are made use .f to effect conversion. The Kingdom of God is one, and no one can enter it except by faith, but the means mad * use to produce such a faith are numerous and varied; but, there are certain traits which are nooessa"v in every conversion. The soul .must be brought to see the light from heaven; the voice of Jesus must penetrate into the inmost recesses of the heart, and the will must be subdued. Two men may lie sitting together in the sam ■ pew—to the one the gospel is only a sound in his ears, to the other it is the voice of God finding an echo in his soul. Many of the hearer-! of the gospel believe that they would repent and turn unto God if met on some road ;is Saul was mot on the road to Damascus, but it is well to remember, however different his conversion was in some of its outward aspects, in its essential, elements it was the same as every other conversion. No compulsion was used, bis will was won', by love, lie became a willing captive to the Saviour in the day of His power 1. Christianity Convinces the Intellect.—Saul’s intellect was massive arid strong. If wo think qf his powers of reasoning, of his exhaustive knowledge, of his clear judgment, of his vivid imagination, wo are amazed and pronounce him a real master mind. He is a star of the first magnitude, and in brilliant / majesty ..,.l compare with Plato,. Socrates, Aristotle, Bacon, Newton, or with any otbc, bright luminary in the ancient o-- modern world, Let sceptics cav’l at. the strange phenomena preseated before us in the record given of Said’s change, and let them pul it down to illusion or madness, the tacts are against, them. The whole 'ntnre conduet of the apostle proves that he really believed lie,had.'seen the risen Saviour and he suffered binds and imprisonment and death at last,, in attestation of his faith. He sacrificed all worldly prospects, and coopted them all as dross i that he, might win Christ. No one doubt-?! the sincerity of the man, and he—one of the' l most enlightened minds tha l ever lived—felt that the gospel of Christ,' when examined honestly and thoroughly, could satisfy the keenest intellect. We rejoice that ChiistuhlitC' has a message for the man of eultuAb as’well as for untutored ■ savhges. 1 Some of the finest intellects ofn.thon ages have accepted the. gospel in .all its fullness as a divine, pi;ovif ion ‘that will fill all the voids of hum m nature-.

2. Christianity Satisfies the Con-science,-—When the enormity of sin was brought homo to Saul lie was amazed beyond measure tha r it was possible for him to be tegivsn. No eartlily power is strong- trough to forgive all offenders agivnst the law, hut God is able to offer pardon and remission of sins to all who repent. Paul, like Bunyan and others after him, never doubted the'power of God to save sinners since be himselt had been changed. When Saul opened tiie door of his soul to Cnn'st, the peace which passeth all urdti standing entered in and took p session of Ids entire self. He felt that all his faculties were now in harmony and set to the music of heaven. The gospel of Christ is well adapted to calm the conscience. Sin set.-, a man at war with himself. To: human heart has been compared to a crowded city, and rushing to and fro within this city are passions and desires, memories and associations love and hate, hope and fear, and thoughts coming and going, and when the inhabitants of this wonderful city are at war with one another the elfect is terrible. But the acceptance of Christ will quell the rebellion, restore harmonious order, and cause the light of heaven to till the soul with purity and joy. ■ - :eu ,-i

3. Christianity Subdues the Will.— “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?” is the language of the penitent. Man is a self-conscious being. He is also self-determine 1. He has power ol choice between alternatives. I lie will of man bears the watermaVk of his divine origin. It is safe to say that tlie will is the man end when you gain submission of the will, the real conquest of man’s . oml has boon effected. There never ivir- a man of more stubborn will than Saul. Prometheus, in Greek mvthology, defying the elements, was nothing compared % to him;, he was determined to effect his purpose in thi face of every difficulty. But the gospel of Christ subjugated even the will of 11.• ■ persecutor, and he willingly warn 1 ' I ted Ids entire personality to the S-• our. vailing- himself after tin- -iav« of .icyic-

Christ. The service i JeMis is in tannony with the luiCsi it-.idom Tist Christian can say, “I am i.r.iwn I >y die bonds of love, vet I am free."

Cant vary properly remark.- “There is no thin;' in tile world a- even cut of it that, can ho called good, withaut qualification, except a good nili. '• 4. Christianity Commands the idle. —There are appropriating forces in Jhriatianity powerful enough to convert opponents into helpers Not only does the gospel arr‘-W the progress of the persecutor o. Ids mad

career, hut it tui ns such t' he an ambassador of Jesus ‘ hr let Gcd in redeeming man does not annihilate Ids faculties or destroy his feelinns. but rather transfers them to a higher service. Man sometimes

endeavours to break down Ins followman’s will, i.'iit it is (ioJU glory to win it. It is a common occurrence in the time of war for one antagonistic power to take captive a l umber of soldiers from the other side. But the offset is simply to weaken the other side, and does not actually strengthen their own. Hut when uur Redeemer takes souls captive from th. enemy, not only is the pow.it of darkness weakened thereby, but die kingdom of light is strengthened, because every soul so taken transfers his allegiance to its rightful Sovereign There are human powers which are .to-day in the service of run—powers of intellect, will, and fooling. Our God needs them all and is worthy of them all. We look forward to the day when every knee shall bow to Christ and every tongue shall confess Him.