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mire of wickedness are equally far from God. But grace reaches up to the legal ist and down to the degraded and brings them both into the presence of the Sav iour of men. II. T he M anifestations of G race (A cts 9 :3-9).. In the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, there are some things which are common to all conversions, and some that are unique in his case. The common things are, first, its sud denness. Saul was arrested in the midst of his proposed arrest of others. The new birth comes to one suddenly, although it is no sudden thing with God. Second, it was accomplished by a sovereign act of God. Third, it was a mysterious occur rence. Saul could not explain what hap pened to him. Fourth, it was a far-reach ing event. It changed the whole tenor of his life, turning him completely around, and altering his outlook and his service. All these changes take place in every true conversion. The unique things in Saul’s case are, first, that salvation came to him, not by the preaching of the gospel, but by a vi sion of the crucified, risen, and glorified Jesus of Nazareth. Saul was not at all a “development of his times” ; he was one “born out of due time.” Second, he was a type of his nation when, in the coming day, that nation will “be born in a day,” not by the preaching of the gospel, but by the sight of the crucified, risen, and glorified Jesus of Nazareth (1 Tim. 1: 15, 16; 1 Cor. 15:8). Emphasize the words, “I am Jesus” : I —the Man in the glory; am —the One who is alive in the glory; Jesus —the Per son who was rejected by men but raised up by God. What man despised, God glorified; what man cast out, God took in; what man rejected, God received. III. T he R esult of G race (A cts 9:17-19). Ananias was naturally afraid of this man who had been given authority to put into prison all who followed the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 13, 14). But when the “God of all grace” spoke to him plainly, saying, “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel,” Ananias obeyed and became the human agency through whom God gave physical sight and spiritual equip ment to the apostle. How strange it is that we seldom hear the name Ananias without thinking of that other character by that name, who was a thief and a liar (Acts 5)1 This fact indicates sadly how much farther an evil name travels than a good one. IV. T he H uman U nderstanding of G race (1 T im . 1:12-14). When he wrote to Timothy, Saul of Tarsus had become Paul the apostle. _As he looked back upon his life, he realized that both his conversion and his subse quent ministry were all of grace. It is true today that what grace begins, grace alone can continue. The saint is as de pendent upon it as is the sinner. Both conversion and commission are wholly the results of it.
BLACKBOARD LESSON ' A1NT5 SCATTERED FEED SOWN r ~ 7 ' OULS SAVED F a v i o u r s a t is f ie d ® e \7 e k . l o s e a n P P OR.T U N I T Y TO I TISIESS FOFL H im man believed, and he went back to his country rejoicing and eager to tell others the wonderful story. Aren’t you glad that Philip listened to the angel when he told him to go into the desert? AUGUST 9, 1931 Saul Converted and Commissioned Lesson: Acts 9:1-31; 22:3-21; Gal. 1: 11-17; 1 Tim. 1:12-17. Lesson Text: Acts 9:1-9; 17-19; 1 Tim. 1:12-14. Golden T e x t : “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). I. S aul , T he S ubject of G race (A cts 9:1, 2). In Saul of Tarsus were headed up the blindness, unbelief, and wickedness of the nation of which he was a member. It was the nation to which Christ had come, and which, in obstinate unbelief and ha tred, had cast Him out. Saul was one of the official party, a man who had given his vote in favor of the stoning of Ste phen, and one who was diligently engaged in attempting to drive from Jerusalem and the surrounding country all those who professed to be followers of the des pised Jesus of Nazareth. He had no sense of his exceeding sinfulness nor of his great need of a Saviour. Breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, he was on his way to arrest and imprison them. He was not a repentant sinner seeking mercy from an outraged God, but a desperate enemy seeking to destroy all that belonged to God. He was, therefore, a subject for grace alone. Saul had a certain zeal for God; he was blameless before the law. Yet, in reality, he was against God, because he was against Jesus Christ. He had much religion and was very sincere, but the record shows that a man’s sincerity may be the greatest hindrance to his salva tion. With all his zeal and morality, Saul was a blasphemer and a persecutor of the Lord. Only grace could reach and save such a man, but grace could and did. Before God, Saul was the chief of sin ners (1 Tim. 1 :15) ; he had come to the end of human wickedness. Before man, he was the chief of legalists; he had reached the pinnacle of human righteous ness (Phil. 3:4-6). In the matter of his salvation, Saul’s guilt was no hindrance, and his goodness was no help to him. He had to turn his back upon both. The gos pel calls to every man: To the sinner in the mire of wickedness it calls, “Come up” ; and to the legalist in the rectitude of his morality it calls, “Come down.” The topmost round of the ladder of legal ity and the lowest depths in the world’s
reading? Did he understand it, or did he require the personal testimony of a be liever in the Lord Jesus Christ to make it plain? Is this a divinely ordained method of soul winning (John 1 :40-42) ? What was the theme of Philip’s sermon? Vs. 36-38. How did the eunuch respond? What public testimony did he give? Vs. 39, 40. In what frame of mind was the eunuch when Philip was separated from him ? Is every saved sinner filled with rejoicing (John IS :10,11) ? By what means was Philip taken to other fields of ser vice? Does this show that the Lord’s methods of leading His children are not always the same? Golden T ex t Illustration One day when James Brainerd Taylor, then a young man, was out driving, he stopped at a watering trough. Another young man was there. Taylor said: “I hope you love the Lord. If you do not, I want to commend Him to you as your best friend.” The strangers went their way, but the result was that the young man was con verted. He entered the ministry and went to Africa as a missionary. Years after ward, he said: “Over and over again I wished that I knew who the man was who spoke to me at the watering trough. But I did not know until some one sent to me, in Africa, a box of books. Open ing one, I turned to the title page and saw a portrait of James Brainerd Taylor. “ ‘Oh, that is the man!’ I said. ‘That is the man who preached to me at the watering trough.’ ” Philip Tells a S tran g er A bout Jesus A cts 8 :26-31; 35-39 Memory Verse: “Philip . . . preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:30). Approach : Last week we found that the disciples and followers of Christ had been scattered to all parts of the country. They had fled from Christ’s enemies in Jerusa
lem. But we found that they went right on telling a b o u t C h r i s t and His death and resurrec tion and asking the people to believe in Him. The name of one of the disciples was Philip. Today’s story tells us how he preached the gos pel to a man from another country.
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Lesson S tory : An angel spoke to Philip and told him to go down into a desert country called Gaza. Philip must have thought it strange to be called to such a place. There were no great crowds of people there to listen to his story. But Philip didn’t question that. The angel said, “Go,” and so he went. As he walked along, wondering who he was to tell his story to, he saw a man riding in a chariot. He was a nobleman from the far-off country of Egypt. He had ridden all the way from his country to Jerusalem in order to worship God. He had a copy of God’s Word, but he didn’t understand what it meant, so he went to Jerusalem to find out. He found no one in Jerusalem to tell him, and he was re turning sadly to his home when he met Philip. Philip got up into the chariot beside the man and told him all about Jesus. The
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