Hitherto the witnesses to the resurrection saw our Lord during the forty days He spent on earth between His resurrection and ascension. Now we bring forward a witness, who, as far as we know, never saw our Lord upon earth; and, if he had, it was as His bitterest enemy, and the persecutor of His people. We refer to the Apostle Paul. In giving a list of those who saw the risen Lord, he finished With himself as a witness, not having seen the Lord when on earth, saying, " And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." (1 Cor. 15:8, 98And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:8‑9)).
Paul was pressing on his murderous errand to Damascus, armed with authority from the chief priests to drag the Christians to prison, and in some cases to put them to death, when suddenly there shone round his path a light " above the brightness of the sun." He heard a voice, saying, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?" (Acts 9:44And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts 9:4)).
Up to that moment Paul had sincerely thought that Christ was an impostor, that He was dead and buried, and that he was doing God's service in seeking to stamp Christ's name off the face of the earth. In a moment he recognized that the One, who spoke to him from heaven, was none less than the risen glorified Son of God, and that in persecuting the Christians he was in reality persecuting their Lord in glory. Paul saw the Lord, thus qualifying him in one particular to be an apostle, for one mark of an < apostle was that he had seen the Lord (Acts 1:21,2221Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. (Acts 1:21‑22)). " Out of due season " Paul saw Him as glorified in heaven. His natural sight blinded by the marvelous light above that of the noonday sun, his dark soul was illuminated with the true knowledge of the Lord. In a moment he was turned from being a bitter persecutor of God's people, poor and afflicted as they were, to being our Lord's most devoted and zealous servant. Note carefully that this all hinged on his discovering the fact of the resurrection of our Lord.
It can safely be affirmed that the conversion of the Apostle Paul was the most remarkable conversion that ever took place in the history of the world. The proof of this statement lies in the following Scripture: -" This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I AM CHIEF. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth ALL LONGSUFFERING, for a pat-tern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting." (1 Tim. 1:15, 1615This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. (1 Timothy 1:15‑16)).
The chief of sinners is in glory. Hallelujah! In him we learn how far God's longsuffering can go. His con-version is a proof to any and every sinner, however degraded or philosophically antagonistic to the Gospel of the grace of God he may be, that the way to life, forgiveness, salvation is open to him. Outside the life of our adorable Lord, which stands infinitely and uniquely be-yond every other life, the conversion of the Apostle Paul has made more mark on the world through his inspired writings than that of any other man, whether he be eminent in the realm of theology, statesmanship, economics or war.
The Epistle to the Romans written by Paul is a price-less and unique unfolding of the Gospel of the grace of God. His other epistles bring before us assembly truth, and have been the occasion of many gatherings of God's people being formed all over the world from that day to this.
His own activities, till martyrdom ended his faithful service, as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, show how his own personal efforts were greatly blessed in the spread of the Gospel, and the foundation of Christian fellowship in a wonderful way.