THE MASTER'S ORDERS. 31 Jewish mob. In Jerusalem, in the temple, and when he was engaged in devotion, he fell into an ecstacy; the operation of sense being suspended, his higher spiritual nature was brought again into direct personal communication with Christ; so that he "saw Him," and heard Him utter these words—" Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me." As Saul had been only two weeks there, he wished to remain a little longer, and, probably with the advice of Peter, thought of selecting Jerusalem as a field of labour. It may have been one of the great feasts, and there might be in Jerusalem "Jews and proselytes from every nation under heaven." Another scene like Pentecost might be anticipated, and Peter might be hoping much from the ardour, erudition, and eloquence of his junior colleague; "James, the Lord's brother," being the only other apostle resident at the time in the city. Man proposes, but God disposes. Saul was at once ordered off the scene; for so long as he was there, he was out of the sphere which the Master intended for him. The outfield of heathenism was his place, and he was not to spend precious time among Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem, since he would meet them in every city in the Gentile world, as he went about among the uncircumcised races. But as Saul did nothing without a reason, he honestly tells the Lord why he had come to labour in Jerusalem. He gives his own view thus: "I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." The ground taken by Saul is very intelligible. The population of Jerusalem had known what he was, and he wished them. to know what he had become. They could not but inquire into the nature and cause of the change which had come over him, and they could not doubt the honesty of one who by that change had so fully renounced all which the world covets-all the objects, indeed, of his own youthful ambition. Nay, he had been so furious that he beat the Christians savagely, or flayed them, as the word means; and at the martyrdom of Stephen he himself was standing over the scene, approving of the deed, and guarding the robes of them who acted the bloody part of executioners and dispatched the protomartyr. Therefore he thought, that on the spot where such points were notorious, and where he had been a ringleader in a fanatical murder, he had a special claim to be heard against himself and in favour of that system which he had adopted from the best of all reasons-autoptic evidence, the appearance and glory of the exalted Jesus. They could not imagine that he had been duped, for they were aware of his mental acuteness and vigour. Neither could they think that one of his austere honesty and straightforward disposition could deceive others; nor yet could they suppose that he had lightly or recklessly abandoned that faith for which he had so gallantly struggled. But his excuse is not even replied to by the Master. The only response to his argument is"Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles" -a distinct and peremptory intimation that admitted neither of hesitation nor delay. Begone-the order of THE RIGHT MAN IN THE RIGHT PLACE. 33 high authority—the majestic token of divine prerogative. Thus in Jerusalem, and in the temple, the very centre and citadel of Judaism, did he receive his express commission to be the apostle of the Gentiles. So commanded by Jesus, and so advised, at the same time, of danger by the brethren, Saul left Jerusalem, was "brought down" to Cæsarea, "came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,” and arrived at Tarsus. Three years had elapsed since he had been commissioned to the Gentiles by divine authority, and still he was reluctant to undertake the task for which his education and temperament so well fitted him. Moses, when summoned to go to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, pleaded want of eloquence; Gideon would not march till the fleece had been wetted, nay, till the omen had been reversed; Jeremiah urged his youth and inexperience when called to the prophetic office; Jonah set sail for Tarshish, instead of proceeding to Nineveh; Ananias, when bidden to seek out a stranger who had recently arrived at Damascus, demurred and said, "Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem;" and Saul, thinking himself possessed of special qualifications for a sphere of labour which he preferred, was backward toward that very work for which he had been born and called, and in which he so soon achieved signal success, and won imperishable renown. "Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God?" "The right man in the right place," has become a popular expression for mutual adaptation. Saul did not verify the saying either in Damascus or Jerusalem, but it might be truly predicated of him through his whole subsequent career, с when he spoke, travelled, toiled, and suffered, as one "appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." Strange realms, wide waters o'er, In her own Isle the Love Queen he abash'd; He poured the sweet strange light; Diana in her Ephesus he dashed. Greece glowed beneath his golden tongue; Full in Athenian ears their Unknown God he rung. Each rich Corinthian shrine Grew dim and undivine, Philippi heard the captor-captive's song; O! ne'er from Grecian soul Such golden streams did roll; No Roman hand e'er smote, e'er built so strong. Temples fell down where'er he trod, And on from land to land stretched the one Church of God. O bearer of all shame! O Earth's most glorious name! O weakling, by whom mightiest deeds were done! O prisoner, whose firm stroke Ten thousand fetters broke! O outcast, by whose word the world was won; To make divinely glad all souls for evermore! III-SAUL AT ANTIOCH IN SYRIA. ACTS xi. 22-26. THREATENED assassination and divine command had sent Saul out of Jerusalem, and he went home to Tarsus. In that city, under the shadow of Mount Taurus, he might again recreate himself with Hellenic studies; and by intercourse with the philosophers who paced the gymnasium by the green banks of the cold and rapid Cydnus, he might learn what trains of thought were best adapted to work on the hearts of those who were 66 aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." The time was not lost, the apostle could not be idle-it was a season either of busy preparation, or of active missionary duty. He had hitherto, come into conflict only with his own countrymen, whose prejudices he could instinctively comprehend, for he read them in his own past life. But he had been warned that another and very different field was to be occupied by him, and for which it behoved him, by every form of human discipline, to equip himself. Experiments upon the gentile population at Tarsus, either conducted by dialogue or more formal addresses, must have shown him how he could best serve the Master in making known His salvation to the pagan world. Though Saul was taught of the Spirit, he was also the pupil of experience; and what he saw and heard in his native province, either in its hilly regions or |