The Signs of the Times
July 20, 1904
The Great Apostle to the Gentiles
From a zealous persecutor of the followers of Christ, Paul became one of the Saviour's most effective and devoted workers. At the gate of Damascus, the vision of the Crucified One changed the whole current of his life. The days of darkness spent in solitude at Damascus were as years in his experience. The Old Testament scriptures stored in his memory were his study, and Christ his teacher. To him also nature's solitudes became a school. To the desert of Arabia he went, there to study the Scriptures and to learn of God. He emptied his soul of the prejudices and traditions that had shaped his life, and received instruction from the source of truth. ST July 20, 1904, par. 1
His after-life was inspired by the one principle of self-sacrifice, the ministry of love. “I am debtor,” he said, “both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” “The love of Christ constraineth us.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 2
Henceforth his life was wholly devoted to the service of the Master. Afterward when engaged in ministry for Christ, he would relate, in the power of the Spirit, the circumstances of his conversion. So impressive were his words that those who were filled with the bitterest hatred against the Christian religion, could not withstand them. ST July 20, 1904, par. 3
Paul was an unwearied worker. He traveled constantly from place to place, sometimes through inhospitable regions, sometimes on the water, through storm and tempest. He allowed nothing to hinder him from doing his work. He was the servant of God, and must carry out His will. By word of mouth and by letter he bore a message that ever since has brought help and strength to the church of God. To us, living at the close of this earth's history, the message that he bore speaks plainly of the dangers that will threaten the church, and of the false doctrines that the people of God will have to meet. ST July 20, 1904, par. 4
From country to country and from city to city Paul went, preaching of Christ, and establishing churches. Wherever he could find a hearing, he labored to counterwork error, and to turn the feet of men and women into the path of right. Those who by his labors in any place were led to accept Christ, he organized into a church. No matter how few in number they might be, this was done. And Paul did not forget the churches thus established. However small a church might be, it was the object of his care and interest. ST July 20, 1904, par. 5
Paul's calling demanded of him service of varied kinds,—working with his hands to earn his living, establishing churches, writing letters to the churches already established. Yet in the midst of these varied labors, he declared, “This one thing I do.” One aim he kept steadfastly before him in all his work,—to be faithful to Christ, who, when he was blaspheming His name and using every means in his power to make others blaspheme it, had revealed Himself to him. The one great purpose of his life was to serve and honor Him whose name had once filled him with contempt. His one desire was to win souls to the Saviour. Jew and Gentile might oppose and persecute him, but nothing could turn him from his purpose. ST July 20, 1904, par. 6
Writing to the Philippians, he describes his experience before and after his conversion. “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,” he says, “I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 7
After his conversion, his testimony was:—“Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 8
The righteousness that heretofore he had thought of so much worth was now worthless in his sight. The longing of his soul was: “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as tho I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I will follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but his one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 9
See him in the dungeon at Philippi, where, despite his pain-racked body, his song of praise breaks the silence of midnight. After the earthquake has opened the prison doors, his voice is again heard, in words of cheer to the heathen jailer, “Do thyself no harm; for we are all here,”—every man in his place, restrained by the presence of one fellow-prisoner. And the jailer, convicted of the reality of that faith which sustains Paul, inquires the way of salvation, and with his whole household unites with the persecuted band of Christ's disciples. ST July 20, 1904, par. 10
See Paul at Athens before the council of the Areopagus, as he meets science with science, logic with logic, and philosophy with philosophy. Mark how, with the tact born of divine love, he points to Jehovah as the “Unknown God,” whom his hearers have ignorantly worshiped; and in words quoted from a poet of their own he pictures Him as a Father whose children they are. Hear him, in that age of caste, when the rights of man as man were wholly unrecognized, as he sets forth the great truth of human brotherhood, declaring that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Then he shows how, through all the dealings of God with man, runs like a thread of gold His purposes of grace and mercy. He “hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, tho He be not far from every one of us.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 11
Hear him in the court of Festus, when King Agrippa, convicted of the truth of the Gospel, exclaims, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” With what gentle courtesy does Paul, pointing to his own chain, make answer, “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.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 12
Thus passed his life, as described in his own words, “in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of 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.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 13
“Being reviled,” he said, “we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat;” “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 14
In service he found his joy, and at the close of his life of toil, looking back on its struggles and triumphs, he could say, “I have fought a good fight.” ST July 20, 1904, par. 15