What is the story of Saul of Tarsus before he became the apostle Paul?

But to turn to the history of Saul of Tarsus; how different it is there! God comes to give righteousness, not to look for it, or demand it. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, had been to earth, had died on the cross, and by His precious death had made propitiation, and as well as ending in God's sight the first man He supplied an answer to every righteous claim of a holy God. God can now come out and express His love for the sinner, yea for the very chief of sinners; and here it may be well to look at what made Saul of Tarsus the chief of sinners. It surely was not that he was an immoral man, or an outcast from society, as they say: were he so he would never have been selected for, and charged with, the mission on which he was running, when God stopped him; on the contrary, Philippians 3 tells us that Saul was one unequalled among his fellows for morality. "If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, 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 in the law blameless." What made him chief of sinners was, not immorality, but the dreadful will and purpose with which he set himself against the purpose and mind of God. Listen to his own account of it;" I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth; which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities." (Acts 26:9-11.) Who could conceive wilfulness or wickedness more desperate than this, to force from city to city the scattered saints of God, and not this only, but to compel them to blaspheme the one who was to them above every one; on whose account they are suffering at the hands of this relentless hater of Jesus of Nazareth. Oh, what contrasts rise up before the soul as we think of it! With the natural thought of God and His ways, how would you predicate the course He would adopt with a wretch like Saul, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the object of his terrible hate? Why, of course, you say, Almighty power would sweep from the earth a plague like Saul; the sword of divine vengeance and justice would be unsheathed to overtake such a one in his wild wickedness. But oh, how different from all this natural thought of God, His blessed way with poor Saul! Stop him God will, but with what? With the pit? No, but with glory! A light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shone round about him; at mid-day, when the sun is brightest, Saul is arrested by what is brighter still! What a sight! A scorner, despiser, hater of Christ in heaven, awakened, arrested, spoken to by that very blessed One Himself: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me"? That very One Himself who had been on the cross, under the judgment, because of man's sin; that very One Himself, who, in that wonderful moment, knew what it was to be forsaken of God, that such as Saul might never be forgotten of Him; now risen up from among the dead, received up into glory, causes the rays of that glory to fall upon the persecutor's path, draws nigh to him, speaks to him, comes not to hurl him into the bottomless pit, but to take him up; to give him forgiveness, righteousness, glory; to make a pattern man of him, a chosen vessel unto Himself; to bear his name before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. Such is the way of His grace now, even to the vilest sinner. Christ has died, and by His death righteousness has been established, the love of God which was not liberated to travel out to sinners until righteousness is established now goes out world wide. There is not only salvation for the vilest sinner, but glory; it is the joy of the heart of God to minister everything now from Himself to sinners. May there be, by the Holy Ghost, in the hearts of all who read these pages, a desire to accept and receive what the blessed God delights to bestow. W. T. T.

The Ethiopian was a seeker after light; his journey to Jerusalem and his earnest reading of the Scriptures were a proof of this. But Paul the Jew was not seeking light—he was resisting it, like an unbroken and restive ox he was kicking against the goads. He was not at the crucifixion of the Lord, but he took a willing and prominent part in the murder of Stephen and in the persecution of the saints. He confessed before King Agrippa, “I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. . . and many of the saints did I shut up in prison. . . and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them . . . I persecuted them even unto strange cities.” He was the chief of sinners, the spearhead of the devil's war against Christ. His zeal against the Name burned like an oven, and “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” he was journeying to Damascus to hale them to prison in Jerusalem . Then it was that the Lord arrested him; suddenly there shined about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” The proud Jew was shaken out of his pride and cried out “Who art Thou Lord?” Then came the answer, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” What a revelation that was to Saul; the One whose name he loathed, and against whom he was so bitterly though ignorantly fighting, was enthroned in highest glory at God's right hand! The discovery revolutionized his whole being, and trembling and astonished he made an immediate, complete and unconditional surrender, saying “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

Is there not bright hope for your soul after that? Is there a man or a woman in this company tonight so determined an enemy of the Lord Jesus as he to whom He spoke outside Damascus at the time? What a change from Saul of Tarsus to Paul the Apostle! It is the most striking conversion all Scripture shows. What was there on Saul's part to bring him to God up to that moment? Was there any — I will not say merit, but the least repentance? — even previous compunction? Was he not in the mid-career of his crusade against the name of Jesus? Was he not "breathing out threatenings and slaughter" at the time? Who was so full of religious pride? Had he not the highest authority of that day on earth? Little did he conceive that this is no safeguard, but may be the greatest illusion, as it was in his own case. He had letters from the High Priest to Damascus, authorising him to drag to prison men and women that confessed the name of the Lord Jesus. He had been only a little while before accessory to the martyrdom of Stephen, and according to every account — his own repeatedly — absolutely impenitent, ignorantly glorying in his sin. Indeed, there is nothing that so shuts out the heart from compassion as ecclesiastical pride; nothing that makes mild people more remorselessly cruel; nothing that more surely closes up every avenue to mercy. If ever a man seemed to be going straight to Satan, not only away from, but against, the only Saviour, it was Saul of Tarsus. Not a word of caution had he heeded from any quarter; not a doubt or fear as to what he was pursuing haunted his mind. He verily thought with himself, as he says, that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus. All that we do learn from God's account is that Saul was wholly untouched till, all being fallen to the earth, only he heard the Lord's voice. They all knew of something occurring most extraordinary in its nature. The light from heaven exceeding that of the sun at mid-day proved itself divine. And there was a sound — I do not say more than a sound — that reached the ears of the others; but the life-giving voice of Christ did not fail to reach the one to whom it was directed. It was quickening for his soul as well as a miracle.

A little is now told us of a young man who made himself most prominent in opposing the truth. He had kept the raiment of the witnesses who stoned the martyr, for he had consented to his death. He must have heard Stephen's prayer for his murderers, and have witnessed, we may conclude, Stephen in his dying moments on his knees for his opponents. Yet nothing he witnessed, nothing he then heard, softened him in the slightest degree. Zeal for religion, unless tempered by grace, may make its votary the most implacable of mortals. Such at this time became Saul. We may call him the Torquemada of his day. [25] For he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house and haling men and women, committed them to prison. Nothing like this had taken place before. It was systematic persecution of an inquisitorial character. Private houses were invaded, and the prisons populated with Christians of both sexes. So far we learn from the historian.

But when we read Saul's own account of it, years after his conversion, the horrors of that time appear in an awful light. "I verily," he said, "thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem : and many also of the saints did I shut up in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme" (Acts 26:9-11). What a time it must have been! No wonder that all were scattered abroad from Jerusalem who could get away, except the Apostles. Imprisonments and deaths were frequent events, and some whose faith gave way were made to blaspheme. Stephen was the first martyr, but evidently not the only one. Many were put to death at that time. It was a great execution indeed. The Apostles were not touched. Probably the previous unsuccessful attempt against them, related in ch. 5, made the authorities afraid to apprehend them.

Before we hear anything more of Peter's history we get the interesting account of Saul's conversion. This event took place apparently soon after Peter's return to Jerusalem. Not there, however, where Saul, afterwards called Paul, was well known, did it occur, but afar off, and for a wise purpose was this. Saul had been a witness of, and was consenting to Stephen's death, and "yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that, if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1-2). He becomes the apostle of Jewish hatred against the Lord Jesus, and His dear followers. Thus engaged in his sad missionary enterprise he nears Damascus, when a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, dazzles him with its overwhelming glory. Falling to the ground, he hears a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" That glory and that voice end his career of self-will for ever. Subdued, and humbled in his mind, he meekly asks, "Who art thou, Lord?" He knew it was God's voice, but what was his surprise to learn that the speaker was Jesus, that He was the Lord of glory, and that He acknowledged His poor disciples — whom Saul would have marched off to Jerusalem to imprison and slay — as being Himself.

There follows on this a terrible persecution against the Church, and Saul not only consents to it, but from that moment becomes the active embodiment of Jewish hatred, and determination to blot out the name of Jesus. When telling the story of his conversion at a later date to Agrippa, he says, "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts 26:9). This doubtless he did with all good conscience. But mark! conscience is no guide to a man. Conscience is like the helm of a ship, and if you have a correct chart, and a good steersman, the helm is useful in guiding the course of a ship; but if you leave the helm to be tossed about by wind and wave, the ship will go on the rocks. We hear now-a-days that if a man walks according to his conscience, all will be well for time and eternity. That doctrine is not divine, and will not do. Conscience, I repeat, is no guide. Here Saul was "in all good conscience" doing everything he could against the name of Jesus. He becomes the missionary of the hatred of the Jews against the name of Jesus; and not content with ravaging the assembly in Jerusalem, he must needs go to foreign cities.

In the ninth of Acts we find him setting out for Damascus, where he learns there are a few Christians — a few believers in the Lord Jesus Christ — a few who love the heavenly Saviour. This young man, full of Jewish fire and zeal, is seen "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" Ere starting on his strange missionary enterprise he goes to the high priest and asks credentials. He "desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring bound to Jerusalem" (ver. 2). What a task! What a business! To bring men and women, who loved Jesus, bound to Jerusalem, and compel them to blaspheme His holy name or die (Acts 26:9-11).

And yet the true heavenly character of the new assembly was not then fully, if at all, revealed. The man, who was the chosen vessel to make known the church, was not even yet converted from Judaism. This man, Saul of Tarsus, was a mad persecutor of the disciples, the great enemy of Christ. As he was on his way to Damascus, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, brighter than the noon-day sun. The mad persecutor fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Amazed at these words, he said, "Who art thou, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." What a revelation; and what a revolution in this man!

In the ninth of Acts we have the wonderful tale of Saul's conversion. This "chosen vessel" must now be brought on the scene. His bygone history gave no indication of what he was to be, but the apostle of God's fullest grace to the uncircumcision, i.e., the Gentiles, is to be made out of the apostle of man's deepest hatred against Christ. The Great Potter (see Jer. 18:1-6) was about to lay hold of a very unlikely-looking lump of clay and transform it. Till now that "chosen vessel" had been in the Potter's mind — henceforth the Potter's mind would be in the vessel. An immense difference, but one which every Gentile reached by Paul's ministry will eternally thank God for. On his way to Damascus, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, … suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven; and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (ver. 1-4). Felled by the glory of Christ, that voice in his mother-tongue revealed the Lord to him, while declaring that His disciples were one with Himself In a moment his career of self-will is over for ever, and "Who art thou, Lord?" is the query of a man whose mind is subdued and whose pride is broken. He learns that the Lord of Glory is Jesus of Nazareth, and that all Christians are united with Himself — they are members of His body — in germ the revelation of the mystery He was to unfold. A self-emptied and for the time blinded man, he hears words which gave him his new commission: "Rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared to 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 to thee; delivering thee from the people (Jews) and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to 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).

The condition of Saul at this moment is described with the utmost minuteness. In obedience to the command he had received, he "arose from the earth," but "when his eyes were opened, he saw no man." As he explained in after days, he "could not see for the glory of that light," which had shone round about him, and into his soul, from heaven. It was, without doubt, literal blindness, but a blindness which expressed at that moment the state of his soul. Until he had been encountered by his glorified Lord he thought he saw clearly, for he had thrown himself into the path of persecution with all the energy of his resolute will, and was convinced that he was doing God service in hunting out the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Now everything was changed; the light which he deemed he possessed had proved itself to be utter darkness, and hence he could see nothing. Moreover, he was helpless, and dependent upon his own servants for assistance: "they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus." The man whose name struck fear into the hearts of timid disciples arrived at his destination as helpless as a babe!

Saul was the first of those numbered among the Apostles of whose baptism we read. Already a quickened soul before Ananias visited him, he was to be enrolled amongst the disciples of Christ in the appointed way for all who should believe on Him subsequent to His death. As baptised, Saul was now buried with Christ (Rom.6:4), and thus was professedly in His company who had really died. Further, as Ananias told him, he was to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and so be fitted for the special service to which he was called. What passed between the two, beyond the few words recorded in Acts 9:17, supplemented as they are by the Apostle's account of the interview in 22:13-16, we shall never know on earth. Yet that interview, we may be sure, must have been one of intense interest to both. Ananias for the first time saw and conversed in peace with the formerly notorious persecutor of the Church of God. Saul, when his sight returned, saw before him one of that hitherto hated sect on the extermination of which he had been bent. And with the facts and the experience of the past few days fresh in his recollection, we may well suppose that he spoke of his remarkable conversion, and of the grace of which he was so striking an example, opening up his mind to Ananias, with whom, as a disciple of their now common Master, he was henceforth to be openly associated. A change indeed had passed over him. What he had seen and heard had wrought a mighty revolution within. He was converted.