THE APOSTLE PAUL.

It would require a large volume to consider fully and properly the character and work of this apostle. We have only space to take a hasty glance at the subject. But even this, it is hoped, may prove useful to those who read it.

St. Paul spoke of himself as “the least of all the apostles.” I. Cor. xv: 9. It was natural and proper enough for him to think lowly of himself. But he stands alone in this opinion. Nobody agrees with him here. We all love to think and speak of him as—“the great apostle of the Gentiles.” When first converted, he began his ministry by preaching to his own countrymen, the Jews. But finding their prejudices against “Jesus of Nazareth,” were so strong that they would not listen to him, he changed his course and turned to the Gentiles. And well he may be called—“the great apostle.” He was great in every view we can take of him. Let us notice now, as briefly as we can, some of the elements of greatness about this apostle.

In the first place, he was great in the natural talents that it pleased God to give him. He had a stronger, clearer mind than any other of the apostles. He could take hold of the greatest subjects brought before him and handle them and master them with wonderful power. He had great reasoning powers. He could argue and reason about anything in the grandest way. And then he had great powers as a speaker. He was marvellously eloquent. See what an illustration we have of this in his famous speech on the top of Mar’s Hill, in the city of Athens, as we read it in Acts xvii: 16-32. We have another illustration of this in his speech before Agrippa, in Acts, twenty-sixth chapter. I would gladly give anything I have in the world to have enjoyed the privilege of hearing Paul deliver that speech. When Agrippa interrupted him by saying, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian;” only think how touching it must have been to see Paul lift up his chained hands towards heaven and say with the tenderest feeling—“I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am; except these bonds!”

The Church of Jesus Christ

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.—Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.—St. Matt. xviii: 20; xxviii: 20.

NOTE BY THE ARTIST

Yet this is not the close of the Great Story, and the painter’s work is incomplete unless he endeavors to visualise the Truth, that, as the Master has promised, his presence and his blessing are with his faithful worshipers even unto the end of the world. The picture represents no special people or period, and the Byzantine architecture most fitly symbolizes One, Universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the Founder and the Head.

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He was great in his early opportunities. He was born at Tarsus, and had a better education than any of the other apostles. His family were well off. It is no argument against this to say that he was a tent-maker by trade. For it was customary among the Jews, even with the richest families, to teach their sons some useful trade. Paul went through the best schools that were to be had then. He had studied all about history, and philosophy, and poetry. And he was learned also in all matters concerning the religion of the Jews. He tells us himself that he was “brought up at the feet of Gamaliel”—who was, at that time, the most famous of all their teachers.

He was great in his prejudices. He was a real Jew in this respect. They all had very strong prejudices against people who differed from them in their religion. But Paul was stronger in his prejudices than even his countrymen were. We see this in the first mention that is made of him in the New Testament. This was at the death of the first martyr, St. Stephen. The wicked men who stoned him, we are told, “laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul.” And then we see the strength of his prejudice in the fierceness of the persecution which he carried on against the followers of Jesus. He “breathed out threatenings and slaughter” against them. He was “exceeding mad against them.” Not content with imprisoning and putting to death those who lived in Jerusalem, he “persecuted them even unto strange cities.” Furnished with letters from the chief priests, he went as far as Damascus, that he might seize and bring bound to Jerusalem any of the followers of Jesus found there. How unlikely it seemed that one who was so very strong in his prejudices should ever, himself, become a follower and an apostle of Jesus!

But he was great in his conversion. It was impossible for him to be converted as other men were. It is hearing about Jesus which leads to the conversion of men. But Paul would not listen to the preaching of the gospel. He would allow no one to speak to him about Jesus of Nazareth. He believed that he was a wicked impostor, and he hated him most bitterly. And so it pleased God to work a miracle for his conversion. He had gone on his journey, till he had nearly reached Damascus, when a marvellous scene occurred. Suddenly the heavens seemed to open above him. A light shone around him above the brightness of the sun. A strange voice was heard speaking to him. It came from heaven. The words it spoke were—“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me!” He gave one look at the opening heavens and then fell overpowered to the earth. “Who art thou, Lord!” was his astonished inquiry. And the answer, more astonishing still, was—“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest!” What a revelation that was to him! How overwhelming was his amazement! No wonder that he was converted by that vision. It was indeed a great conversion. He was baptized by Ananias at Damascus, and began at once to preach that gospel which he had gone there hoping to destroy. Such was the commencement of Paul’s life as a Christian and his labors as an apostle. Everything about it was great.

And then he was great in his privileges. He saw the risen and ascended Lord amidst the glories of the heavenly world. What a privilege this was! It was a privilege which none of the other apostles enjoyed except St. John. We have an account of his vision of the glorious Saviour in the first chapter of the Revelation, verses 10-20. And then afterwards, St. Paul was taken up into the third heavens, or into Paradise, and saw and heard things of which it is not lawful or possible to speak. He had broader and fuller and clearer views of the great doctrines of our holy religion than any of the apostles. And this is one of the greatest privileges we can have in this world. We see the proof of Paul’s privileges in this respect in all the blessed teachings he has given us in his epistles about Christ and his salvation.

He was great in his labors. When he found out the great mistake he had made respecting Christ, and learned to know and love him as the one, only glorious Saviour of lost sinners, the love for Christ kindled in his soul by this discovery constrained him to give himself a living sacrifice to him. And the burning zeal with which he began to work for his Saviour never grew cold. The apostles were all earnest in their labors for Jesus; but Paul was the most earnest and the most untiring of them all. In his case, it was indeed true, that the last became first. No one city or country was large enough to be the field of his labors. He went from city to city, and from country to country, till he had gone all over the world as it was then known. And when he had gone all over the earth once, preaching the gospel, he was not satisfied. When one missionary journey was ended, he began another; and then another, and so on to the end of his days. Then he sealed his life’s labors with his blood, and died a martyr’s death at Rome by order of the cruel emperor Nero. The tradition is that he was beheaded outside of the walls of that great city. And on the spot which is said to be the place of his death, there stands a beautiful church, called after him, and which is a monument to his memory.

How well it may be said of him that he was great in his labors. And yet the Saviour, whom he served so faithfully, had done nothing for him which he has not done for you and me. He bore the same cross, and shed the same precious blood for us, that he did for Paul. Then, in our labors for Jesus, let us try to follow Paul, as he followed Christ. If we try to catch Paul’s spirit, whoever we are, or wherever we may be, we shall find it easy and pleasant to work for our blessed Master. Here is an illustration of what I mean. We may call it:

“Paul’s Spirit in a Child.” A little girl had great dislike for sewing. She had commenced making a bed-quilt, but was not likely to finish it soon. One day she came home from Sabbath-school. They had been having a missionary-meeting there, and she was full of zeal in the missionary cause. “Mamma,” she asked, “can’t I do some work to earn money for our missionary box?”

“Well, Lizzie, darling,” said her mother, “if you will finish one block for the quilt, every other day, I will gladly pay you for it, and you can give this as your own offering to the missionary cause.”

Poor Lizzie’s face grew sad on hearing this; for she disliked this kind of work very much. It seemed as if her missionary spirit was likely to die out at once. But, after thinking over it a little while, her face brightened up and she said, “Well, mamma, I’ll piece blocks, or do anything else you wish me to do, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” That quilt was soon finished, and there is now an earnest, active little worker for missions in that home. This was Paul’s spirit in a child. And if we get that spirit, it will make us all, like Paul, great in our labors for Christ.

But Paul was great in his sufferings, too, as well as in his labors.

Before he became a Christian he had the prospect of rising to a position of great honor and great profit in connection with the Jewish church. But he gave this all up at the time of his conversion. He tells us that, “what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.” Phil. iii: 7, 8. There is something very touching in the record which this great apostle has left us of his sufferings for Christ. He speaks of himself as having been—“In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice I was beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” II. Cor. xi: 23-28. What a marvellous record of sufferings we have here! There is perhaps nothing like it to be found in the whole history of the Church of Christ. And yet the apostle never had a word of complaint to make. The spirit in which he bore his sufferings for Christ is beautifully illustrated in the glimpse we have of him in the prison at Philippi. His back had been torn with cruel scourges. His feet were made fast in the stocks. We might have expected that he would spend that night in sighing and crying. But, instead of this, we read that—“At midnight, Paul and Silas,”—his companion in labor and suffering—“prayed, and sang praises to God.” Acts xvi: 25. Surely this should make us ashamed of complaining on account of any trifling suffering we may have to bear in the cause of our great Master. And Paul had no relief from these sufferings. He went on bearing them cheerfully to the very close of his life. How was he able to do this? There is only one answer to give to this question. It was his love for Jesus that made him so willing to labor and to suffer for him. And if we love Jesus, we should be willing to suffer for him, too.

Here is a striking illustration of the way in which real love will make one willing to suffer even for a friend or fellow-creature. We may call it:

“Love Triumphing Over Suffering.” Some years ago a fine church was built in one of the towns in Belgium. It was all finished at last, except the fastening of the weather-vane on the top of the steeple. The scaffolding was not high enough to reach it. There was no way in which the work could be done, but for one workman to stand on the highest part of the scaffolding and let the other workman stand on his shoulders, while he put the vane on the steeple, and soldered it in its place. A brave-hearted, broad-shouldered workman agreed to stand there for this purpose. He took his position, holding on to a piece of scaffolding. His companion climbed up and stood on his shoulders. The vane and vessel of melted lead were handed up to him. It was a perilous thing to do. A crowd of spectators below watched the operation almost breathless with anxiety. The moments seem like hours, as the work goes on. At last it is done. The men come down amidst the shouts of the multitude. But, when the brave man who had borne his friend on his shoulders reached the bottom of the ladder, he fell exhausted to the earth, and had to be carried home. Then it was found that the poor fellow’s back was in a dreadful state. While the man was doing his work on the vane, some of the melted lead had dropped down on the friend who was supporting him. But he stood bravely still. He would not move an inch, for that would have caused the death of his companion. Here was love triumphing over suffering. And if that brave man was willing to bear all this for his earthly friend, what should we not be willing to bear for Christ, “the friend who sticketh closer than a brother?”

In the next place the apostle Paul was great in his influence. Suppose we could have a history written of all the persons who were converted by the preaching of this apostle during his life; and then of all who were converted by them, and so on, from one generation to another, down to our own times, what a wonderfully interesting history that would be! Or suppose we could trace out, in the same way, all the good that has been done by the writings of this apostle; the persons who have been brought to Jesus by reading the truths found in those writings, or who have been instructed, or guided, or comforted, encouraged, and helped by the same—how surprising it would be! Then we should see, indeed, how great this influence has been!

There are twenty-one epistles in the New Testament. Of these the apostle Paul wrote fourteen. They form a large part of the New Testament. Now, suppose we could take these epistles of St. Paul, chapter by chapter, and follow every verse in each chapter as it has gone round the world from age to age, and find out every case where good has been done to any soul, what a history we should have! No one could write such a history now. But I suppose we shall have such a history set before us when we get to heaven. Then, we shall understand better than we can do now how great the apostle Paul was, in the influence for good which he exerted. But, though none of us can be compared at all with this great man, yet, if we are trying, like him, to love and serve the blessed Saviour, we may all, even to the youngest, be exerting influence for good that will last forever. Here is an illustration of what I mean. We may call it:

“A Child’s Influence for Good.” Bessie was a sweet little girl who was trying to love the Saviour. The nursery in which she slept was on the first floor of the house adjoining the street. It was summer time when the incident here referred to took place. Her mother was sitting near the open window one evening, when Bessie knelt down by her side to say her evening prayer. She first repeated, after her mother, the words that she taught her to use in prayer. After this she was in the habit of offering up little prayers of her own for anything she wished to ask from her Father in heaven. She did so on this occasion; and these were the last words she had to offer: “God help everybody to love Jesus. Amen.” While Bessie was saying her prayers that evening her mother heard the steps of some one passing. He lingered a moment under the window and listened to the words of the dear child. It happened that this was a neighbor of theirs, an infidel, whose name was Jones. The closing words of Bessie’s prayer made a deep impression on his mind. After this he manifested the greatest interest in her, though he always said that what she prayed for never could take place; for he was certain that he, for one, never could be a Christian.

Not long after this Mr. Jones was taken sick. He had a long and severe spell of illness. As he was living in a boarding house, and had no family of his own, Bessie’s mother used to send the dear child in every day to inquire how he was and to take him little things that he might need. He would allow no one to speak to him on the subject of religion; but Bessie’s father and mother hoped that her gentle ways and simple loving words might do him good.

A week or two had passed away, and one night, as Bessie’s mother was putting her to bed—she said: “Mamma, Mr. Jones loves Jesus now.”

A few days after this they heard that their sick neighbor was near his end. Taking her little one by the hand the kind mother went in to see him. They found that he was dying. As Bessie sat on her mother’s lap, by the side of his bed, the sick man died; but just before his spirit passed away, these were the last words heard from his lips: “God, help everybody to love Jesus—everybody.”

And so dear Bessie’s words were the means which God employed to save a soul from death. And if a little child can exert such an influence as this, then we see how, by loving and serving Jesus, we may all make ourselves useful. We may so live that every act and word may be a good seed sown that will yield fruit unto everlasting life.

“Not ourselves, but the truths that in life we have spoken,

Not ourselves, but the seed that in life we have sown,

May pass on for ages—all about us forgotten,

Save the truth we have spoken, the things we have done.

“So let our living be—so be our dying;

So let our names lie, unblazoned, unknown;

Unpraised, and unmissed, we shall yet be remembered;

But only remembered by what we have done.”

The apostle Paul was great in his influence.

And then, as the only other point to speak of, he was great in his reward.

This is true of all God’s people who serve him faithfully. David, when speaking of God’s words, or commandments, tells us that “in keeping of them there is great reward.” Ps. xix: 11. When St. Paul had reached the close of his life, he paused to look back upon the past, and then forward to the future; and as he did so, these are the words that he used: “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” II. Tim. iv: 6-9. We learn from this passage that there is a crown in heaven prepared for every follower of Jesus. These crowns are procured or purchased by what Jesus did and suffered for us. But they will be very different in the number and character of the jewels that are to sparkle in them. And how many jewels, and what kind of jewels your crown, or my crown, will have must depend upon how much we do for Jesus. I suppose the apostle Paul will have the most beautiful crown that any of the servants of Jesus will wear. He was greater in his labors, in his sufferings, and in his influence for good than others—and his reward will be greater. He will have more jewels in his crown than will be found in any other; and they will sparkle with more brightness and beauty. But none will envy him. We shall all feel that he is worthy of it, and we shall rejoice to see him wear it.

But let us remember that every work we do for Jesus, and every sacrifice we make for him, will put another jewel in our crown. Then let us try to serve him faithfully with all our hearts, and we may be sure that we shall receive a great reward. I close with just one little incident, to show how we may add jewels to our crowns. We may call it:

“A Star in the Crown.” A young lady was standing before a large mirror, preparing to go to a ball. She had just placed a light crown on her head, ornamented with silver stars. While she stood there, looking at herself in the glass, her little sister, about five years old, climbed upon a chair, and putting out her tiny fingers, tried to touch the beautiful crown. “What are you doing, Nellie, darling? You mustn’t touch my crown,” said her sister.

“I was looking at that and thinking of something else,” was the little one’s reply.

“Pray tell me, Nellie, what you were thinking about?”

“I was remembering what my teacher said last Sunday. She told us that if we brought sinners to Jesus by our influence, we should win stars for our crown in heaven; and when I saw those stars in your crown, I wished I could save some soul.”

These simple words that Nellie spoke took a strong hold of her sister’s feelings. She went to the ball that night, but felt little interest in it. She had no heart for the music or the dancing, and was truly glad when all was over.

On reaching home she went to Nellie’s room. There she lay, sleeping sweetly. She stooped and kissed her loving lips; and then, kneeling down by the side of her bed, she asked God to forgive her for the giddy, careless life she had been living. She gave herself to Jesus then and there, and prayed for grace to live henceforth for him and for heaven.

Then she kissed Nellie again and said, “Precious darling, you have won one star for your crown!” God help us all to win many stars for our crowns!

Thus we have taken a hasty view of this great apostle. We have seen that he was great in his natural talents; great in his opportunities; great in his prejudices; great in his conversion; great in his privileges; great in his labors; great in his sufferings; great in his influence; and great in his reward.

And now this work is done. I thank God, with all my heart, for permitting me to engage in it, and for helping me to get through with it. It humbles me in the dust to think how utterly unworthy it is of the glorious Saviour to whom it refers. But I know he is pleased to work by feeble means. He puts the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels, on purpose that “the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” My earnest prayer is that he will graciously accept it as a tribute of grateful love from one of the least and most unworthy of his followers; that he will pardon all the mistakes and imperfections connected with it; and bless it, notwithstanding, and make it useful. And if it shall prove helpful to Christian parents and teachers in training their children for Jesus; and if the young who read these pages shall find anything here to aid and encourage them in trying to know and love and serve the blessed Saviour, I shall feel that the time and labor spent upon this work have not been in vain! Amen!

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