T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S SUNDAY, July 17. Col. 1:15-20. The Result of Saul’s Conversion. To enter into a personal relation to Christ means more than salvation. It means service and sacrifice for the sal vation of others. Paul lost no time, Acts 9:20. He took up his life work with vigor, intensity and promptness. He gave the motto of his life to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:2. Paul took a new departure in New Testament preaching. He pro claimed the great and fundamental truth of the Deity of Christ. It seems never to have been preached before. All the Apostles believed it and had confessed it. Matt. 16:16, John 20:28. Their preach ing, however, set forth the fact that the crucified Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the world, Acts 2:36. it remained for Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, _to announce that startling and sublime truth which he later developed so fully in his Epistles, that Jesus is the Eternal Son of the living God. MONDAY, July 18. Acts 9:20-30. Paul in Damascus. Damascus is thought to be the oldest city in the world. It was the most im portant city in Syria on account of its situation and great Wealth. Ezek. 27:16- 18. Paul the trained Rabbi and devout Pharisee now brings all his extensive knowledge of the Old Testament and all his dialectic skill to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. The' Jews at Damascus seem not ‘ to have been so bigoted and fanatical as those of Jeru salem. From verse 21 it appears that they were not greatly disturbed at the preaching of Christian truth in their synagogues.. There were probably many Greek proselytes among them and this fact may have tended to create a more liberal and tolerant spirit. It is an ad mirable thing for a new convert to begin right when he is to testify and proclaim his new found faith. TUESDAY, July 19. G¡M- 1:11-24. Paul in Arabia. After preaching a little while in -Dam ascus, Paul retired to Arabia for rest and meditation. Here he remained for three years. Amid the desert solitudes where Moses had communed with God, Acts 7:?9-30, he had time to review the past and prepare for future service. It is probable that during this period the distinctive Pauline Gospel was developed and matured, that Divine plan of salva tion by faith which he set forth fully at
718 culate sound which was heard by all. In the latter passage it was a distinct utter ance which only Paul understood. The question “Why persecutest thou me?1’ is the first intimation in the New Testa ment of the identity of Christ and His people which is so fully revealed in the Epistles under the figure of the body and its, members. It is also well to bear ib mind that Christ has been seen three times since His final departure into Heaven: by Stephen, Paul and John. FRIDAY, July 15. Acts 9:10-19. The Visit and Message of Ananias. While Paul fasting and in darkness was thinking and praying of his strange experience he had a vision in which a man named Ananias came and restored his sight. At the same time Ananias was prepared by a vision to visit Paul. He came in to him and instead of up braiding him for his cruelty, instead of gloating over his helplessness and sor row he threw his arms around him and said “Brother Saul.” That was the es sence of Christianity. That was enough to break Paul’s heart if it was not al ready broken. At once Paul received his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He then received Christian bap tism and remained some days with the disciples. In Acts 9:15 the kings before whom Paul appeared were Nero, and Agrippa, also Felix and Festus who were the representatives of the Roman Em peror in the East. For some conversion is a cyclonic storm, for others it is a sun-rise. In any case it is the beginning of a new life, the entering into a personal relation to Christ. A locomotive or steamboat may be moving in a certain direction but when the engine is reversed, it slows up, stops and then begins to move in the opposite direction. Conversion in volves the reversal of the spiritual ma chinery. It changes the direction of the life and the bent of the personality. The current which had been setting earth ward and hellward, now flows Godward and Heavenward. According to the ety mology of the word, it is simply turning around. God appeals to the sinner as in Ezek. 33:11. The sinner may reply to God as in Jer. 31:18. SATURDAY, July 16. Matt. 18:1-6. The Psychology of Conversion.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs