Address in Toronto, April 2, 1945
I want to talk tonight about one of these vessels of mercy. “That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy.”
Acts 9:1-221And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2And 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 unto Jerusalem. 3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And 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. 7And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. 10And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. 17And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. (Acts 9:1‑22). This is a scripture we have spoken from many times in the gospel, but it is not the gospel I have particularly before me tonight, although of course one cannot speak from this chapter without touching upon it. It is the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became the great Apostle Paul. Substantially the same story is given in three different chapters in the Acts—in the 9th, the 22nd, and the 26th. It must have been an event of tremendous importance to be repeated in God's Word this way, three times.
We find here one of the most remarkable instances; we get in Scripture of one of these "vessels of mercy." Oh, what a delightful term that is! I believe, dear brethren, the older we get in our Christian lives, the more we come to see that all our standing before God is on the ground of those who have received mercy. The older we get, the more we discover how utterly worthless we are, and how there was nothing in us that could call forth from God anything but judgment and condemnation. Yet He set His love upon us, sought us out, found us in our hiding place, drew us forth, revealed Christ to us; and ever since we came to know Christ as our Saviour, and God as our Father, He has been forming Christ in us.
It is His work—God's work in the vessels. Let us ever remember, dear saints of God, that God's work in us is far more important than any little work we will ever do for God.
God is working in us, and He is working in us both to know and to do His will. The object of ministry is to conform us to Christ in glory.
Oh, the patience and grace of God with the saints of God! What material He has to start with! Here was Saul of Tarsus—and what a character he was! If you had canvassed the face of the earth to seek out the most unlikely candidate for salvation, I think you would have decided that of all the hopeless characters, Saul of Tarsus headed the list. There was not a thing about the man that gave evidence of any hope that he would ever bow the knee to the blessed name of Jesus. His whole background was against it. He tells us in the 22nd chapter about his preparation. "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day, and I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women" (Acts 22:3-43I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. (Acts 22:3‑4)). He was a Jew, and a religious Jew who had many opportunities in this world. He was cultured, well educated, and he came of the best blood. Yes, he had as blue blood as one could find anywhere. He tells us about it in Philippians 3:5-65Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:5‑6), "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." He had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest of all the teachers of his day. He was learned in all wisdom. His mind and thinking processes had been formed by the Jewish system. As a result the man had become possessed with one definite passion in life, and that was to erase the name of Jesus from the face of the earth. He started out to do it, young in life. All his gifts; all that splendid mind of his, all his natural talents, were channeled in the one direction—to get rid of the name of Jesus.
We sometimes read about atrocities that take place in Europe, and sometimes we speak ill-advisedly with our lips and we say, "How is it possible for human beings to do such terrible things?" Perhaps we talk about Hitler or Himmler, or some of the rest of them, and picture them as fiends out of the pit. But after all, their animosity, the hatred of their hearts, is directed against some man or some system of things down in this world. Perhaps they are against capital; perhaps they are against Jews; perhaps it is the hatred of the Nazis against the British, or the hatred of the yellow man against the white man. There are various hatreds that go on in the world, but they are not primarily directed against the Lord Jesus Christ. That was not the case with this man. Every waking moment of his life he was boiling inside with hatred, and it was pointed directly at the face of Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, what a character he was!
God does not have any unnecessary material in His Word. There is no such thing as vain repetition in Scripture. When we get the course of Saul brought before us over and over again as to the animosity that was in his heart, it must be that God wants to teach us a lesson. When Paul says that he was the chief of sinners, I do not believe that he was using a mere hyperbole—I do not think it is just a human exaggeration. I believe he said it in all sobriety, and in the coming day when everything is manifested to the glory of God forever, He will show that the sacrifice of Christ was so all-inclusive, so complete, and so effective, that the worst man that ever trod this earth is in glory forever and ever—and that man was Saul of Tarsus. He had not stolen anything and he was not a gutter character; but he was a man possessed with that awful, burning hatred against the Lord Jesus Christ.
But, oh, the grace of God! "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. 5:2020Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20)). The flood-gates of God's grace are going to envelop this man, and completely transform him, and make him a trophy that is going to be to the glory of God forever and ever.
"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest" (Acts 9:11And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, (Acts 9:1)). His very breath was charged with hatred against the children of God. Why? "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it." The Church was the loved object of Christ in glory. Saul of Tarsus says, "If you love it, I hate it." He was breathing out threatenings and slaughter. It was not mingled with mercy, either. Look at "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison" (Acts 8:33As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. (Acts 8:3)). It was a house to house canvass, and he did not care whether they were men or women. Oh, what a noble occupation! What a man! "Beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it" (Gal. 1:1313For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: (Galatians 1:13)). He went beyond even what a human being would think was proper bounds. He simply abandoned himself to his hate. "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it." What did Saul of Tarsus do? He persecuted it beyond measure and wasted it.
“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 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 pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever" (1 Tim. 1:12-1712And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15This 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. 17Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:12‑17)).
What a low place he takes! What a transformation has been wrought in his soul! "The least of all saints," "The least of the apostles," "The chief of sinners." What a change takes place in his estimate of himself as he gets into the presence of God!
Let us go back to Acts 9 and see how this all took place. What was this transformation? In Acts 26 when he is rehearsing his experiences before Agrippa, he says, "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" (Vv. 10-11). And in the 22nd chapter he tells us about it again (Vv. 4-5): "And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders; from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished." Oh, the madness of his course!
Such we find him in the first part of our chapter, and God is allowing him to go on in this course. Why didn't He stop him before? He had practically emptied Jerusalem of Christians. That persecution that broke out in the days of Stephen, of which Saul appears to have been the ring-leader, had pretty well cleared the Christians out of Jerusalem. Now there is no more prey there for him, and he begins to look afar for other victims. He hears that there are some Christians about two hundred miles away, and he starts out for Damascus. God let him go that far. He could have stopped him when Stephen was stoned. But God was going to teach him lessons, and He was going to teach us lessons too, through the Apostle Paul. Through all this experience He was going to mold and fashion that servant so that after the transformation took place he would go forth as one that had been prepared in God's school for the work He had for him to do. "Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Romans 9:2020Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Romans 9:20)). Could Saul of Tarsus turn and cast back upon God the charge, "Why did You not save me sooner?" No, he never did that. God let him go on, and when He met him, He took him in the height of his folly, when his hatred was burning at white heat. Then He met him, and He met him in infinite grace. He was overwhelmed with the grace which was in the heart of God, manifested through Christ, and the sense of it was so burned into his soul that it characterized his ministry all the days of his life. As the result of all his experience, he was a fitted, suited vessel, to be able to tell out to you and me the matchless grace and mercy of God to poor lost sinners.
Here he is in his evil work, on his way to Damascus.
His one burning purpose of heart is to enter home and house and hunt out all the Christians. When he finds any belonging to what he calls "the way," he is going to bind them and beat them, and bring them bound to Jerusalem; and when they are put to death, he is going to give his voice against them.
He is following his calling; but at midday something happens. "At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me" (Acts 26:1313At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. (Acts 26:13)). What an experience! In that eastern country the sky becomes as clear as crystal as the sun beats down at noonday. Now, above the brightness of the noonday sun there appears a light, and in the 22nd chapter, where he rehearses the story he says, "When I could not see for the glory of that light." That is what smote him—the glory of that light. It brought him down in the dust. There he lies, and he hears a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" There was not a word of censure, but that solemn, soul-searching question. When Saul laid his violent hands upon a child of God, man or woman, he was laying his hands upon Christ. Every member was dear to the heart of Christ; and in that question Paul learns that Christ and His members are one.
“Why persecutest thou Me?"—"Who art Thou, Lord?" —"I am Jesus." Oh, what a revelation! That is the name he hates. That name Jesus formed the very core of all this burning hatred that he has been spuing out these many years. What a break-up is taking place! The vessel is breaking now under the surgings of the mighty ocean of God's grace.
There he lies, smitten down by the light above the brightness of the sun, and he says, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" He gets his directions. He rises from the dust and continues his journey on to the same place for which he was headed. But oh, the change that has been wrought in that proud arrogant man! If I had read that passage in 1 Timothy 1 in the other translation, I would have read “Who was before an insolent and overbearing man.” That is the kind of man he was. Now he continued his journey to Damascus, and what kind of a man is he? He is stumbling along with somebody leading him by the hand. He is absolutely blind—everything is as dark as Egyptian midnight before him. Where is all the glory of his retinue? Where is all the pride and arrogance? He is as helpless as a little child, and he has to be led by the hand as he continues on his way into the city.
Somehow he finds a room there, and he lapses into soul loneliness, as he is shut in the dark with God. It does not make any difference to him whether the sun is shining or whether it is midnight. He does not want anything to eat. He does not want anything to drink. Day comes and day goes, and night comes and night goes, and there he is—alone with God. What is happening? Ah, beloved, there is a mighty transaction going on in that man's soul. He is learning what is inside his heart, and at the same time he is learning the grace of the heart of Christ. What awful strippings are going on! What things are dropping off during those hours of agony! What mighty wrestling is taking place! It is going to be a different man that comes out of this experience. He is reviewing his whole life, and thinking of what he has been, and of the One who met him by the way.
“And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise, and go into the street that is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus; for, behold he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on Thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”
There is a lesson for us here. When Naaman the Syrian came down to Elisha the prophet, Elisha sent his servant out to him and told him to go and dip in Jordan seven times. The man was violently enraged. He said, "I thought the prophet would come out and strike his hand over the place and heal me of my leprosy. Instead he sends one of his servants, one of his menials to give me a message." Saul is learning a further lesson here. It is not the Apostle Peter, the man with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that is sent to him. That might flatter Saul of Tarsus. Instead, it is an unkown Ananias. He is somewhat like Melchisedek. He just appears and functions and then he is gone. He is just a common, everyday disciple; and when he gets his commission he does not want to go. Do you blame him? Sometimes (if I may throw in a side remark here) the Spirit of God says to you or me, "You go down into that street called Straight." You do not want to go, do you? Isn't that a fact? Ananias did not relish his mission either, but the Lord says, "You go.”
“Behold, he prayeth" (vs. 11). Saul is the dependent man now. He is not insolent and overbearing any more. He is down in the dust—a praying man.
Ananias is sent to him, and the Lord knows where he lives. Ananias cannot make any mistake. God is interested in us, brethren—in the little things of our lives. He knows where we live. He knows our house number. He knows when we pray; and He knows when we do not pray. He knows all about those prayerless days that flit by, and He knows why we fell into that temptation, and why we dishonored the Lord. It is good to know that the Lord knows all about us.
Ananias obeyed the directions. "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost" (vs. 17).
“Brother Saul”—what a bond! What a lovely greeting!
“The Lord, even Jesus"—that same name, but how differently it sounds in his ears now!—the sweetest name on earth! Isn't that blessed! —the glory of that Light had blinded him, and now it is that same One who says, "I am going to give you your sight, but you are going to see things through different glasses from now on. The world will never look the same to you again. You will see all things new.”
"And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth" (Acts 22:12-1412And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. (Acts 22:12‑14)). That is where it all started—"The God of our fathers hath chosen thee." It started with God, not with Saul. Dear brother and sister in Christ here tonight, your salvation did not start with you, it started with God. "God hath chosen thee." I have a motto hanging in my library, and I like it. It has just one word—"Chosen." Isn't that a blessed word?
“That thou shouldest know His will." What a wonderful thing to know His will! Do we know it?—He wants us to. God wants us to know His will as to the question of salvation. He wants us to know His will as to the Church of God. He wants us to know His will as to our path through this world. God chose you to know His will. Are you interested?
“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:1717If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)). What blessing lies ahead for the willing soul! God wants you to know!-"chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will." We will never be able to shirk responsibility by saying, "I did not know what the Bible said." God intends us to know His will, and to search His Word to find it out. The Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica because they searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:1111These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)). Brother or sister here tonight, if you are not in the path of God's will, God wants you to get there; and the Church and guidebook is right here. The path is marked out, and God wants your feet in the path of His will.
“And see that Just One." What a blessed experience that is! And, you know, Paul did see Him. "And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw Him saying unto me. Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me" (Acts 22:17-1817And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. (Acts 22:17‑18)).
“That Just One"—how could He be just, and spare: that thrice-guilty man—that double-dyed sinner, who hated all that was dear to the heart of God? Why did He not send down fire from heaven and consume him? He certainly deserved it. Calvary is the answer to that. Saul's course, inspired by Satan and led on by the powers of darkness, had all been met, and met before Saul ever started on that wicked way. It had been met on Calvary's cross, and now God could come out in grace and still be the Just One, and justify a man like Saul. "That He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)). What a marvelous truth! If you do not understand it, read the first eight chapters of Romans until you do. God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus, though he may be the worst rebel against God that ever breathed.
“And shouldest hear the voice of His mouth." What intimacy! How sweet that voice! "Never man spake like this Man." How lovely the communications that fell from those blessed lips! It makes one think of Psalm 45:22Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. (Psalm 45:2)—"Grace is poured into thy lips." Here, as Saul gets his commission from Ananias, he is told, "Thou shalt hear the voice of His mouth." When he heard the voice of His mouth, in place of bringing his sins to remembrance, in place of condemning him and reminding him of what a terrible character he had been, He brings before him the heart of God that loved him in spite of all his rebellion. The floodgates of grace are opened to take care of all he had been.
"Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Phil. 3:5-65Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:5‑6)). Paul rehearses there what he had been. He knew what it was to have a standing in this world. He had good breeding and upbringing, and every advantage, position, power and influence. He tells us about a lot of things there that gave him a standing in this world, and then he tells us what he did with them. He says, "I just threw them all away." "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:7-87But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:7‑8)).
Sometimes one hears saints talking about what they have given up, patting themselves on the back. Paul says, "I counted it all but dung." Who is going to talk about the sacrifice of giving up dung? He is not talking about sacrifice, he is talking about unloading a lot of things that hindered him in the race, that he might win Christ. He threw them away, and he never went back and picked them up. He never lost sight of that Object—Christ. I believe in those days and nights of darkness alone with God, it was all reviewed in His presence, and there he had a revelation that gave him to evaluate things according to God's standards.
If you and I are going to get the mind of God, we will have to get into His presence. We will never get the proper evaluation if we take the standards we see in the world about us. They are diametrically opposed to the judgment of God. You have to go to the Word of God, and in the secret of His presence let these things penetrate into your soul, before you can get His mind. It is not done in a moment, either. Paul was three days in the darkness, as he fought this battle, and learned what was worth while.
He came through the experience. He was baptized. He received the Spirit of God—and what was the next thing? "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God" (Acts 9:2020And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20)). What a different testimony! Our King James version says he preached Christ; but the correct rendering is "Jesus." He preached Jesus—that name he had hated. He started right out with that burning testimony that characterized him right down to the day of his martyrdom. He preached Jesus—the Son of God—exalted and made high. He started out with that testimony as to the Person of Christ, and that was Paul's theme all the days of his life.
All the rest of his life, too, he taught along the lines of the preciousness of the members of Christ to the Head in heaven, which he had learned the hard way when Jesus had said to him, "Why persecutest thou Me?" It was thus he learned that Christ loved the Church. As a result, in his ministry he was always referring the members to the Head. If we have right thoughts about the Church we will do the same. The members of Christ will be precious to us, because we know they are precious to the Head in heaven.
We started out with a chosen vessel—chosen before he ever had thought of bowing the knee to Christ. He was one picked out by God. The question might arise, if the grace and sovereignty of God did that for Saul, would it not forever give him the idea it would do the same for other people, and that he need not worry about them? Would he not have had that biased opinion of election that would give him to be careless about preaching? He knew from experience all about God's sovereignty—yet he is the man who says, "I endure all things for the elects' sake, that they also might obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:1010Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:10)). He was willing to be sacrificed, to be offered up as a drink offering, in order that the saints of God might learn more of Christ, and be brought through the journey and landed safe in heaven. He did not say, "if they are going to be saved, they will be saved anyhow without my bothering about them." He said just the opposite—"I am willing to endure anything that they might obtain salvation.”
This truth does not make you careless. It tells you God has some precious material He is going to bring in, and nothing will prevent His bringing it in. But you and I have the privilege of going out with the glad tidings.
Every child of God in this room was just like Saul of Tarsus—once a rebel, once away from God, dead in trespasses and sins; but you were chosen too, weren't you? The Spirit of God came along and brought you to the light, gave you to bow the knee to the name of Jesus, and it became precious to you.
What a wonderful thing it is to be associated in this world with the company that Christ loved—"Christ loved the church." Do we realize how dear the Church is to the heart of Christ? If we do, we are not going to be careless about Church truth. We are not going to say, "Oh, well, as long as you get busy in the gospel that is all that is necessary." Brethren, Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. If you are in communion with His mind, the Church will be dear to you, and you will want to have His thoughts about it.
God wants you and me to be in communion with Christ, who loved the Church and gave Himself for it. How much are you willing to give? How much are you willing to suffer in order that others may come into the good of these precious truths? Paul was given to share in Christ's sufferings, and in a secondary way you and I are given, not only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for His name's sake. That is our privilege, and when we realize how dear the Church is to Christ, we ought to throw all our energies into line with His will, and seek to go through this world in communion with Him as to His thoughts about the Church.