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Sketches from the Life of Paul
Paul had vainly looked for a Messiah to deliver the nation from
the bondage of foreign kings, but he had found in Christ a Saviour
from the bondage of sin. Life had been to him a blind and baffling
conflict, an unequal battle, a fever of unsatisfied desires, until he had
seen Christ. Then his longings were satisfied, his fears banished,
his burdens lightened. He had found Him of whom Moses and the
prophets had written,—Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of the world.
Why, he asked, should it appear incredible that Christ should rise
from the dead? It had once been so to himself; but how could he
disbelieve what he had himself seen and heard in that noonday vision?
He could bear witness to the resurrection of the dead; for he had looked
upon the crucified and risen Christ,—the same who walked the streets
of Jerusalem, who died on Calvary, who broke the bands of death, and
ascended to Heaven from Olivet. He had seen him and had talked with
him as verily as had Cephas, James, John, or any other of the disciples.
And how could he be disobedient when the Voice from Heaven sent
him forth to open the eyes of Jews and Gentiles, that they might turn
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that
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they might receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them
that are sanctified? In Damascus, in Jerusalem, and throughout all
Judea, and to the Gentiles, he had preached repentance toward God,
faith in Christ, and a life consistent therewith.
This, and this only, was what led the Jews to seize him in the
temple, and seek to put him to death; but the Lord had delivered him
from this and every other danger. The testimony which he bore con-
cerning Jesus of Nazareth was no blasphemy, no heresy, no apostasy,
but a truth in perfect harmony with all the teachings of Moses and the
prophets.
The apostle was dwelling upon his favorite theme, in that solemn,
earnest, impassioned manner which had been so powerful an agent in
his mission. In the all-absorbing interest of his subject, he lost sight
of kings and governors and chief captains, of wealth, rank, and titles.
He was bearing the testimony which was the object of his life, and
he could speak with the assurance of long familiarity and the fire of
intense conviction. None who heard him could doubt his sincerity. But
in the full tide of his eloquence he was suddenly stopped short. The
facts related were new to Festus, as to nearly all present. The whole
audience had listened spell-bound to Paul’s account of wonderful