soul of conviction, as complete as it was sudden, could have changed such a man in such a way!

Think also of the wonderful importance of the Conversion of Saul as affecting the destinies of the Christian Church.

The preaching of S. Stephen, and the persecution which followed his martyrdom, marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the Church.

The Gospel was about to obtain a wider proclama.. tion. The members of the Christian Society, driven from Jerusalem by persecution, went everywhere preaching the word. The centre of Christian life and activity would soon be shifted from Jerusalem to a Gentile city. Congregations of Gentile believers would soon be springing up in the great cities of the world; and the Christian community, the Body of Christ, would have to meet these altered conditions of its existence.

But a movement such as this would require the most careful guidance, this ever-widening field would demand the most skilful tillage. Questions would inevitably arise as to the relations between these Communities of Gentile Christians, and the Central Body of the Church at Jerusalem, which would need a master mind to grapple with, and a master's hand to set at rest. To steer the ship of the Church through such perilous straits, through such hidden shoals, would require a pilot specially trained and qualified.

No one of the original Twelve Apostles was specially gifted, by education or by training, for such exceptional work. Such special work required a special agent; and such an agent was found by God's providence by the Conversion of Saul.

Here was the chosen vessel of God, the Apostle of the Gentiles. Here was the man who was chosen

by God to guide the Church in the perilous times that were at hand; who was chosen to take the helm when the vessel of the Church floated out from the sheltering shores of Palestine into the vast ocean of the world.

But we must now return to the history as S. Luke relates it, and see what followed upon this appearance of Christ to Saul on the road to Damascus.

Acts ix. 8: And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing: and they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink.

When Saul, trembling and astonished, rose from the earth and opened his eyes, all was dark around him: he was blind, blind with excess of light. His companions had to lead him by the hand into the city.

What a different entrance into Damascus from what he had looked forward to. He passed through its gate, not as a dreaded Inquisitor, but as a poor humbled, blinded man, through the street which was called Straight, to the house of Judas.

Saul was still, no doubt, accompanied by the officers of the High Priest; he had still in his possession the High Priest's commission to summon the Christians before his Court: but in conviction, in heart and conscience, he was himself a Christian.

We should have liked to have heard what he said to his companions about the change which had come over him; with what words he gave up his letters of authority. We cannot help wondering what his companions had to say; but we can picture their dismay, their bewilderment, at the inexplicable

delusion that had possessed their leader, and at this unexpected ending to their mission.

But not a word of all this is told us. We only know that the blindness continued for three days, at any rate for part of three days, and that during that time he neither ate nor drank.

I do not think we are meant to understand from this that Saul set himself to fast, that he of set purpose abstained from the food which he craved for. Rather it is implied, that so terrible was the mental struggle through which he was passing, so great the tempest raised in his mind by conflicting waves of thought, that he had no heart to eat and drink, nor indeed any consciousness that he needed food.

It must have been a terrible three days. Of course he would get no sympathy from his companions: but he prayed in silence and alone, and his prayers were heard.

A special vision was granted, in which he saw a man named Ananias coming into his darkened room, and putting his hands upon him, that he might receive his sight.

Acts ix. 10: Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight and enquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus, for behold he prayeth; and he hath seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him that he might receive his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon 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: for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my Name's sake. And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. And he was certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.

There are many things which strike us as we read this beautiful and touching story.

And, first of all, we are struck with the way in which the narrative brings out the reality of Christ's presence in His Church, and the nearness of Jesus to His disciples and to all men.

Christ plans and arranges. He speaks and acts as One who is actually and really present. Here, at any rate, there is nothing to countenance the notion of His having departed to some far-off heaven, and committed the care of His Church to the hands of another.

It is, indeed, through the Holy Spirit that Christ is present in His Church. But that Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit has not come to take the place of an absent Christ, but to bring about His presence. We are not the less living in the Kingdom of Christ, because we are living under the dispensation of the Spirit.

And then, again, how beautiful is the way in which the truth is brought out, that Christ sees, and watches, and listens to men. He knew Saul's name; He knew the city where he was born; He knew the name of the man in whose house he was

lodging; He knew the name of the street; He knew exactly what Saul had seen in his vision; He knew that he had been praying; He knew for what he had been praying.

Of course there is nothing really strange in all this. He who knows all things, knows everything.

But how it brings the truth home to us: how it brings home to us that Jesus knows all about us, knows where we live, knows where we are lodging, knows what we are thinking about, knows when we pray, and what we pray for; knows also how we pray, or whether we pray at all!

There is another thing, of a very different kind, that strikes us when we read in this narrative how Saul was baptized, how Ananias said to him, "Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord "; and that is how very important, how very indispensable in Christ's cyes, is the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Surely if in any case baptism might be thought superfluous and unnecessary, it would be in this case. Here was a man separated to God, from his mother's womb, to whom Jesus had Himself appeared, a man whom He had chosen to be His Apostle, a man who was to occupy altogether an exceptional position in His Church; a man, too, who for the whole of his apostolic career was protesting against the bondage of external ordinances, and vindicating the spirituality of the Gospel.

If Baptism were, what some people are very fond of calling it, merely "an ordinance," merely an outward sign or badge, conferring no real grace, admitting to no spiritual privileges, would such a man as Saul have submitted to it; or would it have been required in his case?