mind--sweeping everything before him like an irresistible tide, riding
upon the crest of power, haling men and women to prison, breathing out
threatenings and slaughter and making havoc of the church, fell
headlong to the earth, as a blinding light burst forth from heaven and
the voice of the Lord sounded in his ears--the "still small voice,"
yet mightier than the roar of any cataract.
"Who art thou, Lord?" "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." "Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do?" Saul's conversion was complete. Convert
means to _turn about_. It means an entire change; not to be robbed of
one's powers, but to have those powers diverted into another and
entirely different channel.
Look again at the Falls--that great destructive mass tumbling over the
cliff, beating rocks to pieces and slashing gigantic gorges in its
course. What is happening? Science is harnessing the power of the
cataract and with it producing light and heat and power for the cities
of Canada and the United States. Darkness is dispelled, warmth takes
the place of chill, the wheels of industry are humming, and men and
women are enabled to live and make bread for their little ones,
because of the conversion of a mighty force into life-giving
usefulness.
Fellows, some people seem to think to accept Christ as the Master of
their lives means to take away or paralyze their powers--to deprive
them of some special activeness they possess and which they shrink
from giving up. Bless you, there could not be a worse mistake. To
accept Christ means to have those same powers, even though they might
have been devoted to evil, now turned into channels of finest, highest
service--the kind of service that really satisfies the cravings of the
human heart. I see a boy who, because he is of an intensely sociable
disposition, seeks the companionship of a gang of fellows around the
loafing places and pool-rooms in the evenings. Touched by the spirit
of Christ, those social qualities will be even more enthusiastically
devoted to winning other young people into Christian life and service.
I see a young fellow with an unbroken will, glorying in his freedom,
as he sees it, to resist the counsels of wiser ones against his evil
habits, cigarettes or any other destructive thing that may have gotten
into his life. That same will-power, that same stubbornness, touched
by the power of Christ becomes the rock-ribbed steadfastness that has
enabled men to put through great achievements for God. I see a boy who
can invent much devilment and get himself and others into an almost
incredible amount of trouble and sorrow. It might be the judgment of
some that "killing is the only thing good for him," but touched by the
spirit of Jesus, that boy becomes a veritable genius for doing
effective things to promote the Kingdom of God--and no fellow in the
community happier than he. He verily throbs with the joy of living.
No, fellows, you don't turn a river back up-stream to convert it; you
simply harness it, and its powers flow on, but for good and not for
destruction. If you want to be a power that blesses wherever it
touches, and dashes back into your own heart the spray of the salt
and the tang of the fresh morning air, hear to-day the Voice of your
Master, and quickly answer: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
_Read Acts 9:1-19._
XLV
"TURNING THE BATTLE AT THE GATE"
Say, fellows, now and then a thing happens which sets our blood
tingling and makes every nerve in us want to send up a mighty shout.
For instance, when the score is against us in the ninth inning, and
with two men out and the bases full, our pinch hitter comes to bat,
coolly waits, picks out the "good one," and swats the pill over
left-field fence! Or when Hindenburg's hordes are pouring into the
Marne wedge, almost to the gates of Paris, Foch calmly waits--and
prays while he waits--then at the crucial moment hurls those chafing
reserves against them, turns disaster into victory and enshrines the
names of Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and the American Marines in
song and story for ages to come.
Fellows, every life is a campaign, and it is the biggest game of all;
into this great contest come crises now and then, and the way we meet
them largely determines the result. If those crises have not begun to
come in your life, let it be the sure sign to you that God is holding
them off while He gives you the opportunity to make the necessary
preparation for them, for come they will. There will be times when the
storm is breaking around your head and the ground will seem to be
crumbling beneath your feet. Such times come to every fellow who sets
his face to a principle and determines to stand like a man, no matter
what it costs.
Fellows, Paul was that kind of a man. He had that steadfastness to
principle, that firmness of purpose, which gave him poise when all
about him was tumult. Other men lost their heads; Paul kept cool. It
was a critical moment around the temple court that morning; the Jewish
mob was murderous, the Roman chief captain was petulant, and he was
cold and relentless as steel.
Paul had to handle both on separate grounds to keep them from
"handling" him--and both at the same time. He shrewdly "played both
ends against the middle." He drew from his quiver two keen but
entirely different arrows, and both "went home." To the chief captain,
he whispered one small word, "I am a Roman citizen." That made the
grim warrior's jaw drop. It thoroughly frightened him and gave him
such profound respect for his prisoner that on a later occasion he did
Paul a very vital service.
To the mob of Jews clamouring for Paul's life, Paul having gained the
chief captain's permission, turned and informed them in the Hebrew
tongue that he was a better Jew than any of them, and he made out his
case so well that they listened--and before they realized it, Paul had
accomplished his object and delivered his shot, which was to proclaim
Christ as "that Just One," the Saviour of the world--including the
despised Gentiles. The Truth had gone home, and they gnashed their
teeth, tore their own clothes into shreds, and threw dust into the
air, while Paul was taken into the castle for further examination
and, for the time being, was safe.
Fellows, baseball does furnish now and then a moment's thrill--and
thank God for the clean game; a world war makes the earth tremble for
many years--and may the Lord have pity upon its victims; but Paul was
grappling the Big Event upon which Eternity shivers--the Disaster of
rejecting Jesus Christ! And as we look upon Paul's life, his superb
manner of meeting great crises as they came, how he held not his own
life dear, we think of one of the great sayings of the prophet Isaiah:
"_In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for
a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, and for a spirit
of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength_ TO THEM
THAT TURN THE BATTLE AT THE GATE."
Fellows, if you and I want a career that will give highest
satisfaction now, and will best bear record in Eternity, let's make
Christ at once its dominant Theme and sustaining Power!
_Read Acts 21:27-40 and 22:1-24._
XLVI
A KING IN RAGS
Say, fellows, a little ragamuffin--so the story goes--was being set
upon by a mob of larger boys in the streets of London many years ago.
These big bullies were jeering him and throwing sticks and cans at
him. The little fellow was plucky and defiant, and it made them all
the more cruel.
Suddenly there appeared in the crowd a tall swarthy young fellow
slashing the tormentors right and left; until, after a stiff and
unequal fight, in which the rescuer was greatly outmatched in
strength, the cowardly ruffians were put to flight. That little
ragamuffin was no less a personage than the King of England, and the
curious circumstance by which he got into those rags and into that
cruel torture is told by Mark Twain, in his most interesting
story-book, "The Prince and the Pauper."
In a later chapter we see the little king restored to his rightful
place upon the throne, and there amid the splendour of the court with
all the lords and ladies looking on, a tall, swarthy young man
advances and kneels and is knighted by the king. It is the same young
man who broke through the crowd, and at the risk of getting his own
head cracked took the part of the helpless little ragamuffin, not
knowing he was a king.
That sounds like a romance--and it is; but, fellows, the same thing in
all its interesting elements and its happy outcome is happening
to-day in the streets and homes of your town and mine. All about us
there are folks being set upon--cruelly set upon. The tormentors may
not be ruffians in flesh and blood. They may simply be cruel
circumstances. Sometimes fire, sometimes sickness, sometimes financial
loss, sometimes accident, sometimes a combination of a number of
pestering calamities, getting the victim down and making life very
miserable in mind and uncomfortable in body.
Now think of the folks in your block, fellows; how many of them are in
some sad plight which would make you shrink from exchanging places
with them? They are being set upon; can you get in there and help in
some way,--you with your good free strong arm, your big, sympathetic
heart, your pocketbook, your resources of interest and fun?
And whom will you choose to help, and why? Will it be Tom Jones up
here on the corner, who broke his arm and needs somebody to come sit
with him and talk,--Tom Jones, who is rich and has a car of his own,
and who will likely share it with you when he gets well, if you are
good to him? Or will it be little Willie Bell over there across the
railroad, who is a hopeless cripple, whose folks are poor as anything,
and who can probably never repay you in any sort of way?
Do you know, fellows, why some folks choose the Willie Bells to help?
Why, it is because they love Jesus Christ. They believe God's Word as
it tells us in to-day's wonderful passage in Matthew: "Then shall the
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me;
I was sick and ye visited me.... Then shall the righteous answer him,
saying, Lord, when did we see _thee_ hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or
sick--and helped?... And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of
these, ye have done it unto me."
You see, fellows, it takes some faith and some imagination. Ask God to
give you, first, Faith. Then ask Him to give you a consecrated
Imagination. Then you will see in every unfortunate person that you
can help--you will see _your King_. You have His own word for it, to
justify that imagination and to confirm it.
Oh, yes, you may sometimes in your zeal help somebody who is unworthy.
Don't let the fear of that make you miss the blessing. The very fact
that you go to him in the name of your Christ and for His sake, may be
the means of helping that poor unworthy one to cast off his rags of
sin and become clothed in the righteousness of your King.
I tell you, fellows, it is a wonderful thing to be in the service of
such a Master. All your efforts for Him are given full value. Even
your mistakes, if honestly made are transmuted into the gold of
satisfaction. Let's launch out for Him, to-day. Let's take Him at His
word, and see how it works.
_Read Matthew 25:31-46._
XLVII
SHAKING UP PHILIPPI
Say, fellows, that was one exciting day in Philippi. Not since Mark
Antony's Roman legions went tearing through to meet and destroy the
armies of Brutus and Cassius, nearly a hundred years before, had the
town been so shaken up; and all because of two inoffensive looking
Jews who had quietly walked in there and told about Jesus Christ. They
had come over the winding road from Neapolis, nine miles distant on
the seashore, where they had gotten out of a ship from Asia. A poor
crazy girl, a fortune teller, heard the message, her heart was changed
and she became sane and normal; it put an end to her "fortune telling"
and this enraged her masters, who had Paul and Silas arrested and put
into prison.
That created some stir, but it was nothing to what was to follow. The
jailer seemed to take special pains to make his prisoners secure,
putting them in an inside cell and making their feet fast in the
stocks. These fellows looked so unworried that he probably suspected
they had a well-laid plan to escape. The jailer was further surprised
to hear the two prisoners singing--actually singing some of their
hymns, though they must have been in great discomfort.
Away into the night they sang. The other prisoners heard them and
marvelled. Surely these new jail-birds had something which they, the
old ones, did not possess. The jailer, as he retired, doubtless
remarked to his wife: "Well, there's something uncanny about those two
men; here it is midnight and they are singing and going on like two
schoolboys on a picnic excursion!"
He hadn't been asleep long, when a brick fell out of the mantelpiece
near the jailer's bed and the furniture about the room began to dance
a jig. Mrs. Jailer screamed and the children began to cry in terror.
The door creaked and pushed off its hinges, falling with a slam-bang.
The jailer jumped and landed in the middle of the floor. A flash of
lightning put a photograph on his staring eye that he never got rid of
to his dying day. The prison walls were cracked and falling, the doors
were down and the dazed prisoners were groping about.
Alas, poor jailer, the thing of all most dreaded was about to
happen--his prisoners would escape! Earthquakes were bad enough, but
the sudden thought he got of himself answering to the governor next
morning with his life for the escape of those put in his charge was
more than he could bear. Reaching for his sword he placed it, hilt to
the ground, to fall upon its point and end his life right there;--then
he heard a clear voice coming through the darkness: "Stop! don't do
that. We're all here; nobody wants to get away."
It was one of those psalm singing Jews! he recognized that at once,
and putting up his sword he called to his wife to light the lamp quick
and bring it; then he rushed into the cell where Paul and Silas stood,
their feet free from stocks and hands unmanacled, and fell down on his
face before them.
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And the Philippian jailer was
thinking about the peril of his soul, for like a flash it had been
revealed to him that these men were from God. Paul's answer came quick
and true: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house." And thy house--for Paul saw behind the jailer his
crouching, trembling wife and children. Paul told them all about it
then, and as the blessed truth came into their hearts, they stopped
trembling and began to find new hope in Jesus and a new joy in
service. Immediately, the jailer and his wife got basins of water and
washed the bruised stripes on the backs of the men. They saw in those
stripes the suffering Saviour's wounds which they would like to
soften; very differently they had viewed them the evening before.
Right there Paul baptized the whole household, and quickly afterward
the jailer straightened up the tumbled down kitchen stove and Mrs.
Jailer cooked something good and savoury for the men of God to eat.
Fellows, it ends like a fairy tale, which says "they lived happy ever
after," for the record says the jailer "rejoiced, believing in God,
with all his house." And in this one word, "Rejoiced," I would like to
hand you the strangely wonderful and fine thing in to-day's lesson.
Rejoicing puts the climax of satisfaction of joy into any experience.
Let it stand the test proof of rejoicing and you've got the true
value. If believing in and serving Jesus Christ could bring rejoicing
to a jailer and his household under such circumstances, surely then we
can better understand the force of Paul's word to Timothy when he
speaks of "the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."
Here is a jailer. A jailer's office at best would not be much of a
rejoice shop. This jailer's life is in jeopardy when his prisoners
escape. His jail is cracked open, the doors are down and he cannot
shut them. The prisoners are walking about. At daylight he must reckon
with the authorities. Yet he is rejoicing. And the secret of his
rejoicing is in his believing--believing God.
Fellows, it means everything to believe--to believe like the
Philippian jailer did. He not only accepted Christ and was baptized,
but he immediately began to minister to Christ's servants. It was the
one way in which he could in those first moments of his belief express
his faith, and he did it. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
This is the thing which is crowned by Rejoicing.
_Read Acts 16:16-34._
XLVIII
GO IN YET--AND WIN!
Say, fellows, look in upon three interesting personalities--Paul,
Barnabas and Mark; each one widely differing from the other two, yet
their lives bound up together in the biggest enterprise the world ever
knew--the winning of the world for Christ.
They are planning another big "hike"--one that will be full of
hardship and perils, and Paul and Barnabas are having a hot discussion
about Mark. Barnabas wants to take him and Paul wants to leave
him--and why? Well, last year when they were taking a trip of this
kind, Mark left them and went back home. Paul says he's done with
Mark; if a fellow hasn't got a backbone better than a stick of
spaghetti, he doesn't want to load up with him. Barnabas, on the other
hand, thinks a lot of Mark; in fact, Mark is his nephew and he has a
strong interest in him. He knows Mark made a mistake back there in
Pamphylia, but who does not make a slip sometime? "Let's give him
another chance; he will make good because he is deeply sorry; I have
talked to him and I know that he is determined to redeem himself."
"No," says Paul, and his jaw is set; "I would like to give him another
chance, but the Cause is too great and too important to take chances
on a fellow who has thrown a chance away."
So it goes. Both men are determined, and there happens the only thing
that can happen under such circumstances; they separate. Paul chooses
Silas as his companion, while Barnabas takes Mark with him. Barnabas
was one of the biggest-hearted fellows you ever saw. His very name
means, "Son of Consolation." He couldn't bear to see a fellow denied
the chance to make good. Paul, himself, had been befriended in that
same way by Barnabas at Jerusalem only a few years before. Humanly
speaking, it was through the friendly offices of Barnabas that Paul
had risen to prominence in the church.
Fellows, I am not criticizing Paul (far be it from me), because Paul
was doubtless conscientious in his stand about Mark; but let me tell
you fellows--don't ever miss a chance to help some poor fellow who has
made a mistake, to make good. One of the finest things that will come
to your experience will be seeing your touch of sympathy and
encouragement put life and hope into some unfortunate "Down but not
out."
What happened to Mark? Why, he made good. He made so good that Paul
afterward sent for him, and he and Paul put through some great schemes
together for Jesus Christ. And that was not all; one of the four
Gospels bears Mark's name. Think of what an honour that was! Peter got
him to help him write it. Yes, Mark made good.
I heard of a fine young fellow the other night, only eighteen years
old, who because he had made a mistake--had made a bad break and lost
his job--who knowing he was himself to blame--had formed some habits
that contributed to his downfall--for all that was hopelessly dejected
and actually saying he wished he could die. Well, what do you think of
that? With all the best and biggest part of his life before him, with
youth and health and loving parents, and some good friends ready to
help him, wanting to die! Piffle!
Do you know, I just wanted to slap that fellow on the back and bring
him to his senses. Make good? Of course he could. "Come back?" Sure!
There is just one thing to do with a failure, fellows. Get on top of
it with both feet and bury it--with success.
I heard of an old horse, too old and sick to work. His owner wanted to
get rid of him but was unwilling to shoot him. The old horse just
wouldn't die. He was that spunky. One day, he dropped into a well in
the pasture, but he hit the bottom still upon his feet. His owner,
thinking it a chance now to rid himself of his horse, took a shovel
and began vigorously shovelling the dirt in to cover him. But as each
shovel of dirt landed on the horse's back, he shook his skin, like
horses do, and trod the dirt down under his feet. Soon, the horse's
back appeared at the top of the well, and in another moment the old
fellow climbed out and began to crop the grass.
"You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat;
But to lie there--that's a disgrace.
"The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce.
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts;
It's how did you fight--and why."
Fellows, what must be the opportunity for rising, to a fellow whose
God says to him: "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is
made perfect in weakness!"
_Read Acts 15:36-41._
XLIX
GREEN FRUIT
Say, fellows, did you ever spend two days making a kite and just about
the time she was all ready, bridles adjusted and tail properly
balanced, it set in to rain?
Can't you see that beautiful thing, done in blue, all spangled over
with silver stars, leaning up there in the corner, panting for its
maiden voyage into the empyrean? And you have wound on a stick a fine
strong cord from the ball you purchased and hold it in your hand as
you stand by the window, looking with disgust and disappointment at
what seems to be developing into "a United States rain." No, son, you
might as well get a book and settle down for the afternoon, for there
is no kite-flying to be done to-day. Thank your silver stars if you
get her up by tomorrow!
And right here, fellows, make a note of this: whenever you are balked
in a scheme, stopped in your plans--right spang up against a stone
wall!--ninety-nine times out of a hundred it will prove a godsend and
a blessing to you in the end--IF you take it right.
I wish every fellow could get the habit under such circumstances, of
stopping still a moment and saying to himself: "Hey here, this thing
has a _meaning_--what can it be?" That will yield a better dividend
than fretting over the interruption. As a rule, he will discover
something he can be doing while he waits, something that immensely
strengthens the main chance.
When Lord Clive, "the founder of the Empire of India," sailed from
England for Madras, at the age of eighteen, all impatient to enter
upon his life plan, storms overtook the ship and so far diverted her
course that within a month young Clive found himself stranded in a
port of Brazil instead of India. There he had to remain nine months
before he resumed his voyage; but what did he do? Chafe over the
interruption and delay? Bless you, no; he seized the opportunity to
master the Portuguese language, which accomplishment proved to be a
tremendous asset later on, in his great constructive work in India.
Paul and Silas, as they travelled through those provinces of Western
Asia Minor, all afire with their great purpose of preaching the
Gospel, met blank disappointment. Upon arrival at each point they were
confronted with an unmistakable message from the Holy Spirit to keep
their mouths shut. What could it mean? What was the use? Should they
give it up? Should they sit down and sulk? No, said Paul, we will keep
agoing; the Lord will show us what He wants us to do when He is ready.
And sure enough, the big orders came one night in a vision to Paul, in
which a man appeared and delivered to him the great Macedonian
Call--the call which opened up to that patiently waiting servant
"God's Greater Plan" for his life--a far more splendid one than he
had ever dreamed of.