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1130 kicked against the goad that the Spirit of God and his own conscience were applying to him (ch. 26:14 R. V .). He was all the more bitter in his opposition to Christ Jesus because in his deepest self there was a feeling th^t he might he wrong. The most bitter infidel is always the one who down in the depths o f his heart has a feel ing, to which he will not attend, that he is wrong. Saul’s hatred o f Jesus knew no pity and no bounds. He spared no one, neither man nor woman. All that he needed to hate a person and to desire their death, was to know that they believed on the Lord,Jesus. There are not a few today very like him in this respect. He was not content with doing what he could to stamp out Christianity in Jerusalem, he heard that there were other Christians in faraway Damascus, and though they were strangers to him, his hatred went out toward them because they believed in the Lord Jesus, and he sought authority to go to Damascus and carry on the same work o f destruction there that he had carried on in Jerusalem. Monday, December 4 . Acts 9 : 3 - 5 . The Lord allowed Saul to go a long ways in his mad and-wicked career, but just at the proper moment He put forth His hand and saved the little' flock in Damascus. Nothing seemed more unlikely when Saul started on his journey to Damascus than that he would be the mightiest herald o f Christ Jesus and the Gospel that the world had ever seen. Just so no one o f us can tell today who among the bitter foes of Jesus Christ, or among the vilest sinners, Will some day be a mighty herald o f the Gospel. Some o f the most useful men that I know in Christian work today are men who a few years ago were among the vilest and farthest away from God. God acted “ suddenly,” He often does. We often think that a long process is neces sary before there can be a radical change in men, but the one w h o' is familiar with God’s dealings knows that this is not so. The “light out o f Heaven” that shone around about Saul was the light o f Jesus’
THE KING’S BUSINESS
resurrection glory (v. 7; 1 Cor. 15:8). It was “about noon” (ch. 2 2 : 6 ), and the glare o f the sun at that time o f day in that coun try is exceedingly bright, but the glory of the light that surrounded our Risen Lord Jesus was “ above the brighteness o f the sun” (ch. 26:13). Our Lord is exceed ingly glorious ( not only exceedingly glor ious in His moral nature, but at the present time exceedingly glorious also in His external appearance. In a moment the stout-hearted persecutor was thoroughly hushed. He had spoken great swelling words against the Lord, but now he cried to Him, “Who art thou, Lord?” There are many today who speak great swelling words against our Lord Jesus who, if they should get just one glimpse o f Him as He is now in His resurrection glory, would “ fall upon the earth” before Him, just as Saul o f Tarsus did. Some day éverÿ knee shall bow to Him (Phil. 2:10, 11). It is evident that for all his zeal in persecuting the Church, Saul had many a goading thought that he might be wrong and that Jesus might be indeed the Lord. The words “ it is hard for them to kick against the pricks” are not’ found in the best Greek manuscripts at this place, but they are found in Chapter 26 :14 (though the word “pricks” is properly changed to “goad” iii the R. V .). It would be more exact still if the word “goad” were in the plural, as it is in the Greek. It was a startling question that the Lord put to Saul, “Why persecutest thou me ?” He puts the same question today to everyone who is persecuting His people. To persécute anyone who belongs to the Lord is to persecute the Lord Himself. Our Lord with wondrous tenderness identi fies Himself with his disciples, regarding anything done to His disciples as done to Himself (cf. Matt. 25:35, 36, 40-45; Eph. 5 :30). What a moment o f awful and over whelming shame it must have been in Saul’s life when it fully broke upon him that the glorious one Who stood before him was indeed Jesus, the vèry one whom he had so bitterly hated and so relentlessly perse cuted. It will be an equally appalling -mo-
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