preaching the word." Amongst other places to which they sought for an asylum, was Damascus. Thither they carried with them the Gospel of Christ, and thither accordingly did the relentless malice of their persecutor track them.

Turn now to the opening of the chapter before us, and mark the description given of this Pharisee, and his zeal for the suppression of the encroaching superstition. "Saul," it is said, " yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, (mark the contemptuous turn of the expression,) whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem." What a personification of murderous bigotry

every breath threatening and slaughter! He seems like the incarnation of some infernal fiend, rather than one born of woman, and nursed with the milk of human kindness.

And yet, brethren, this blood-thirsty wretch was not without some dazzling advantages, and as it might be thought redeeming qualities. According to his own statement, he was "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, blameless." A citizen of Tarsus, he was a freeman of the Roman Empire; and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, his education was the most extensive and complete that the country

could supply. Such were the talents and attainments of this chief of persecutors! It is evident from the circumstances of the narrative, as well as from his own subsequent confession, that he was a Pharisee in spirit, no less than in profession that he not only trusted in himself as righteous, but despised and hated others.

Now brethren, of all that you ever read or heard of, can you conceive a more unpromising or hopeless subject for the operation of divine grace? Of all who then breathed on the face of the earth, this was the most determined, the most powerful, the most active enemy of the Cross of Christ. If Saul of Tarsus then, obtained mercy, which amongst you all need despair? A blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious, stained with the blood of hundreds, and perhaps thousands of disciples of the cross, and worse than all, guilty of the blood of the many souls whom he had compelled to blaspheme-can there be any hope of forgiveness, can there be restoring renewing grace for such an one as he? And where then, is the desponding, unbelieving spirit that will continue to conceive of the Divine compassions as straightened, or of the love of Christ as less than infinite? Here, concentred in one and the same character, were pride and prejudice, the most rooted aversion from Jesus and the most perfect self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Barriers more formidable than these to the entrance of the Gospel into his soul, it is impossible to conceive. 'How can such a man

be born again?' might not unreasonably be asked by any who were ignorant of the Omnipotence of the regenerating agent. With man, brethren, this is impossible, "but not with God, for with God all things are possible." The sequel of the history affords the most glorious, and unparalleled proof of the truth of this position.

We left the fiery inquisitor on his way to Damascus. Proud of his commission and impatient to enter upon his exterminating work, he drew nigh to the city. His purpose seemed on the very verge of accomplishment, and he was already feasting his imagination on the extinction of heresy, when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he is arrested in his course. A blaze of light, above the brightness of the mid-day sun, bursts forth from heaven with withering intensity upon his sight. For an instant! for one instant-his eyes behold a countenance of inconceivable glory, and majestyand then, the next-he sinks blinded, and astonished to the ground. Thus it is that he is represented in the text. "He fell," it is said, "to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

The more practical consideration of these words will lead us to notice

I. THE ATTITUDE OF ST. PAUL.

II. THE REMONSTRANCE ADDRESSED TO HIM.

I. His attitude was the lowest possible-prone, prostrate, trembling. See what a moment may

bring forth! Mark, my brethren, what the power of God is able to bring to pass! Observe the contrast between him who, the instant before, was advancing in all the plentitude of pride and power; and him who was now dashed to the earth, astonished, sightless, fearful. The hand of God was upon him, and how completely would he realize that it was an Almighty hand! Where now is the fury of the oppressor? where his fiery zeal, and where his proud boasting? See, brethren, how vain it is to contend with him who "must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." Mark how the Most High can put his hook in the nose, and his bridle in the lips of the fiercest opposers of his kingdom! There, low in the dust, subdued, and helpless, lay the bitterest and proudest of the enemies of the Gospel! And what, then, is any sinner, that he should think to harden himself against the Lord and prosper? Have you done it? Are you doing it? And will you dare to continue your defiance? O beware, lest you provoke a blow widely different from that which brought this blasphemer to the dust; a blow no less powerful indeed, but far more indignant and severe. For, be it remembered, involuntary and startling as was the arrest thus put upon Saul of Tarsus, it was the arrest of mercy. The power that laid him low was that of the Spirit of God, reducing him to his proper position as a guilty sinner at the feet of Jesus. To abase the pride of the natural heart, lies at the very foundation of the work of salvation.

Paul was first reduced to that attitude by Almighty power-he was afterwards taught to delight in it by Almighty grace. How blessed, how divine was the influence which could thus prevail to the casting down of every high imagination, and lay Saul the Pharisee prostrate at the foot of the cross! The process, my brethren, was this-it was simple, and it is uniform. A light from heaven, a beam from the fountain of light, had burst in upon his moral, as well as his natural vision. The discovery it made was twofold. It exposed his own guilt, and it revealed the glory of the Son of God. With Job, the language of his feeling at that moment would have been, "Now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes," or with Peter; "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

O my brethren, if there is one among you, indulging proud and vain thoughts of himself, it is a sure proof that he knows nothing of himself-has seen nothing of Christ. One single glimpse of either object would place him side by side with Paul-in the dust, before the cross. But it is further related, that whilst in this attitude he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why perse

cutest thou me?"

II. REMAINING

CONSIDERATION.

66

This remonstrance was the

POINT SUGGESTED FOR OUR

Never had that voice fallen upon his ear or penetrated his heart before! Nor does it ever