18
Sketches from the Life of Paul
The disciple, obedient to the direction of the angel, sought out the
man who had but recently breathed out threatenings against all who
believed in the name of Jesus. He addressed him: “Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest,
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the
Holy Ghost; and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been
scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized.”
Christ here gives an example of his manner of working for the
salvation of men. He might have done all this work directly for Saul;
but this was not in accordance with his plan. His blessings were to
come through the agencies which he had ordained. Saul had something
to do in confession to those whose destruction he had meditated; and
God had a responsible work for the men to do whom he had authorized
to act in his stead.
Saul becomes a learner of the disciples. In the light of the law he
sees himself a sinner. He sees that Jesus, whom in his ignorance he had
considered an impostor, is the author and foundation of the religion
of God’s people from the days of Adam, and the finisher of the faith
now so clear to his enlightened vision; the vindicator of the truth and
the fulfiller of the prophecies. He had regarded Jesus as making of no
effect the law of God; but when his spiritual vision was touched by the
finger of God, he learned that Christ was the originator of the entire
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Jewish system of sacrifices; that he came into the world for the express
purpose of vindicating his Father’s law; and that in his death the typical
law had met its antitype. By the light of the moral law, which he had
believed himself to be zealously keeping, Saul saw himself a sinner of
sinners. He repented, that is, died to sin, became obedient to the law of
God, exercised faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour, was baptized, and
preached Jesus as earnestly and zealously as he had once denounced
him.
The Redeemer of the world does not sanction experience and exer-
cise in religious matters independent of his organized and acknowl-
edged church. Many have an idea that they are responsible to Christ
alone for their light and experience, independent of his recognized fol-
lowers on earth. But in the history of the conversion of Saul, important
principles are given us, which we should ever bear in mind. He was
brought directly into the presence of Christ. He was one whom Christ
intended for a most important work, one who was to be “a chosen