LET us see the remarkable way in which the Lord meets Paul. It is a most charming history. He goes on his way to Damascus, and all of a sudden, as he nears the town, he is challenged. “Suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven” (Acts 9:33And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: (Acts 9:3)), “above the brightness of the sun” (26:13). What was that light? It was the light that shone from the face of the Son of Man in glory. Wonderful light, indeed, was it; brighter than the sun at noonday. Think of that! You know what the sun is at noonday, and in an Eastern climate too. It was at noonday, when the sun was shining in all its meridian splendor, that the light of the sun was put out by a brighter light. Well might Paul say, “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:66For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)). It was the glory of God in the face of Jesus shining on him; and what was the effect? That wonderful light blinded him for the time being, and “he fell to the earth.” The Lord had met him. The history of his self-will, of his sin, and of his wickedness, under the garb of religion, was over.
What grace, that Christ should pick up this man, who had been His most bitter opponent on earth, and make him a vessel of grace to others. What a marvelous thing also is it that the grace of Christ should take up men like you or me, who have been bitterly opposed to Him, and turn us, from being the servants of sin and the devil, to be His servants. That grace met Paul. It has met me; may it meet you tonight. If you are unsaved, unconverted, may the grace that saved Saul, and saved me, save you now!
Overwhelmed by the light, “he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (vs. 4.) What a moment in his history! when he hears that all-commanding voice― a voice absolutely human, but intensely divine―the voice of a man, but which he felt was the voice of God―the voice of a human being speaking to him in his mother-tongue (Hebrew) from glory. Nevertheless, it was the voice of the eternal God to that man’s soul and conscience. He who spoke was Jesus. The exalted man was God’s eternal Son, who had veiled His essential glory, ―His Godhead glory, ―in human form. He now speaks from heaven to Paul and to us, and it is of vital importance not to despise His sayings. “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Heb. 12:2525See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25)).
Whence did Jesus speak to Paul? From heaven! and, young man, on the road to hell, a voice from heaven speaks to you, and I ask you, Have you heard and obeyed that voice? “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” No doubt Saul was amazed. How could he be persecuting Jesus? It was a wonderful question. Could you persecute Jesus? I believe you could. Perhaps you have done so. If your history were published, it might come out that you had been persecuting Jesus. Did you not laugh at that man who works in the same building with you for his being converted? Have you not jeered at your own brother who was converted, and was seeking to serve the Lord? Have you not ridiculed the sister who sought to speak for Jesus, and to live for Him? Why persecutest thou Me? says Christ. In that moment Saul learned that the saint upon earth and the Saviour in glory were really one. He, the head of the body, in heavenly glory; and they, the members of it, here on earth. He learned the identity of the people of Christ on earth with the blessed Saviour in heaven. What a revulsion took place! The time of his self-will is forever over, the man is humbled in the dust; and not only does he fall down in the dust materially, but he gets down morally, by the side of Job, in dust and ashes. “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 65I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5‑6)). Yes, that man is down in dust and ashes before God. He has seen Christ. He has seen the heavenly Saviour. Have you seen Him? Has your eye ever seen Him? Oh! if never before, let the eye of faith turn to the Saviour in glory this night.
Saul turns at once to the Lord. He is humbled, broken right down in the dust. Now observe his changed attitude. “And he said, Who art thou, Lord?” He does not say, Who art thou? He says, “Who art thou, Lord?” He knows Him. That voice had done its work. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live” (John 5:2525Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25)). He heard that voice, and lived. He was a quickened soul from that moment. He had the sense that he was in the presence of One who knew all about him. Were you ever brought into the presence of the Lord really, and got an answer as he got it? “And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.” Has He to say to you tonight, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest”? If you have never loved Him, followed Him, or got to know Him, or serve Him, His voice speaks to you from glory tonight, and He says, Do you want to know Me, and to do My will? Then, as He reveals Himself as Jesus to your soul, you will understand the wonderful revulsion of feeling that passed over that stricken man’s soul, as he learned that the One who had arrested him, the One whose light blinded him, was the Jesus whom he had been persecuting. He had looked upon Jesus as an impostor, and thought that he was doing God service in getting His name wiped off the earth. And while he was busily bent on his murderous tour, he was arrested by God’s glory shining from the face of that same Jesus. I say again, What a revulsion of feeling took place in his soul. He saw in a moment what he had been doing during the whole of his life. He saw the criminality of his conduct, the fullness of his sin, the terribleness of his guilt; and I have no doubt he felt what would be the consequences of his folly and sin. Have you not sinned precisely in the same way? I believe we all have. We all have been opposed to Christ more or less, though our opposition may not have taken the fiery demonstration of a Saul.
There will be a mighty revulsion of feeling when you are truly converted. I don’t believe in the conversion that does not change a man, and if you really turn to the Lord there will be a downright change in your life. If there is not, you may seriously doubt whether you have been converted or not. Was not Paul changed? Look at him! “And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (vs. 6). He is at once obedient. You have immediately dependence and obedience, the characteristic features of the new life that was started in his soul. Quickened by the life-giving voice of the Son of God, risen from the dead, the existence of that new life in his soul was demonstrated by the question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” I have done my own will till now, but from this time forth I am Thine.
The Lord Christ says, “Rise, and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles,” who did not care for the gospel, “unto whom I now send thee.” And what was he to do? “To open their eyes,” he got his mission, “and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:16-1816But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:16‑18)). Prostrate on the ground, and blinded, he asks, “What wilt thou have me to do?” Go to the Gentiles, says Jesus, and “open their eyes.”
That is what a man wants first of all. Have your eyes been opened to the fact that you are a man on the road to an eternal hell? It is a great thing when a man gets his eyes opened. He sees his danger. Are your eyes opened to see your need of Christ, and to see your danger? May God open them tonight, and turn you from the power of Satan to God! What is the state of the man who is not converted? His eyes are shut, and he is under the power of Satan.
Paul knew full well the terrible power that had blinded him, till this heavenly light illuminated him, and he got his mission, to go to the Gentiles, “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light” ―thank God for that!― “and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Hearing these words, he rises and goes forth with a mission to carry the most lovely news that ever mortal man could bear. What news? That there was a Saviour in glory, who had power and grace to save the worst man in the world; that there is a Saviour in glory for the most godless young man in this hall. If you turn to Him, and have faith in Him, I will tell you what you get, ― “the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith?” And who are they? They are called saints frequently in the New Testament. There are two classes in this hall―in this world―tonight―the saints and the sinners. And who are the saints? Those who are in heaven, you reply. Thank God, there are some there, but there are many still on earth, and I would like to see you among them.
Up to this point Saul had been persecuting them. “How much evil he hath done to thy saints,” says Ananias to the Lord about him. But who are the saints? Those who belong to Jesus! You would not perhaps liked to be called, or take the ground of being, a saint. I will tell you why. If you call yourself a saint, those around about you will look to see whether your walk and conversation is like that of a saint, i.e. saintly, suited to God. Quite right. I think it is perfectly fair. Observe! I am either a sinner on my road to eternal judgment, or a saint on the way to glory. Every man in this hall tonight is either a hell-bound sinner, or a glory-bound saint. Which are you? That is a terrible sharp line to draw, you say. Yes, I admit it, but so long as it defines the road you are on, it suffices. I say again, every young man in this audience is either a hell-bound sinner in his sins, or a glory-bound saint through faith in the blood of Christ. Which are you? I am not hell-bound; through grace I am heaven-bound. Go with me to glory! I won’t go with you to hell. Come with me to Christ: I won’t go with you to judgment. It is far better to heed the message this man got, as he rose up out of the dust, than to disregard it. W. T. P. W.