The Life Of St. Paul

Saint Paul was the scliolar of the college of the apostles. He was doubtless inferior in mere Bcholastic learning to many of the contemporary Greeks. Bul among the Jewish studente al Jerusalem he apparently enjoyed a pre-eniinence, which destlned him to high official position in 1 1) o Jewish church. Pérhapa we rarely think of him hs a acholar, certainly nol as a recluso buried in his books. If we think of him at all as a acholar, it is as the acholar in action, as the scholar who is transforming all his intellectual, as well as all liis moral power, into vital forcé, witli which to lil't men ap to a purer and nobler life. Just because he was such a man, jtist because he resisted Ihe temptation to Beek tliat ecclesiastical preferment which his talent and learning entitled him to expectin the church of his fathers,just because, when he heard the command of God, he renounced all the brilliant prospecta before him and g liimself to a life of the most intense activity in raising men to a higher moral and spiritual plane, just because of' all t his it is tliat his example is 80 inspiring and helpful to youog seholars of all time, and especially to the Bcholars of our time. You, who are now about to leave us, are probably without exception looking forward to a lile oi' action. You expect to touch men's souls and to heli) shape tlieir lives. I do not doubt tliat you des i re and hope to aid in lifting men to higher levéis of purpose and endesvpr. I have thought tlierefore that on this occasion we might well attempt to draw out f rom the character and career of St. Paul some lessons lor the American scholar. 1. First let us notice the long and patiënt preparation which he made for his work. As a child he received at Tarsus, which was distinguished for its Jewish school, the careful training common to the educated Jew of those days. He also like other children of his race became possessed of the knowledge of a useful handicraft. Many of our best educators have thought that we might well imitate the old Hebrew custom of imparting Bimilar instruction to each child, and thus enable him to obtain a wider knowledge of men and to know what it meana to earn one's bread by the aweat of one's brow. As l'atil carne to maturer yeara he Btudied at Jerusalem under the renowned teacher Gam al iel. The training he there received anBwered to our professional preparation. He engaged in the atudy of the Hebrew law, in debate, in dialectica. He learned how to argue wit h directness and force. After the greal spiritual experience, which he passed through on his way to Damascus, he was for three years lost to the public gaze. This time ho probably devoied to thought and study. It is believpd by some that ho aUo went to Athens and made liimself familiar with öreek poetry and philosophy before he enterea upoñ his active duties as a preacher of tbe gospel of Ohrist. Thirty yean he thua spent, as hia Lord and Master had done before liim, in training lor hia great mission. Here ia an example worthy oí' imitation. Not that every one need wait or can wait nntil he is thirty years ot' age before entering upon lii-; profession. But every one may be asked to appreciate the wisdom of thorough and Bolid preparation for importan! and rasponsible work. The qnestion whicli so many are asking is not, how can I secure the very best preparation for my work, but how can I in the shortesl time gain admittance to iny profesRion. Faculties are pressed with requests of studente to be allowed to take short cata to advanced standing, to be permitted to cram for an indefinite number of exasiinajbions, rather than to proceed at a pace at which assimilation and appropriatiou of learning produce genuuie culture and strength. And many rush into the professiona through the doors which are open in thia country withonl having pursued even n tolerable urse of study auywhere. The results are that many utterly fail, others crushed beneath the waighl of the work for which they are unprepared, break down in healtb, and still others come -hort of the conspicuous Bucces8 which careful preparation for their work wou ld have assured tlieni. 2. _ Again the student of St. Paui's career must be struck by the indomitable perseverance with which he overéame the difficulties he had to encounter. In reading the inanly and forcible words of the apostle, I think we should naturally picture him to ourimagination as a man of imposing presence, of robust health. and of comnianding oratory. Yet we have good reason to believe that he had not an imposing presence. Be saya himself that his presence was " mean." In oratory he did " not meet the Greek ideal. The G reeks required careful method and ftrtistic finish in the speeches of their greal orators. These Paul (lid not possess. He was "ru in speech, Apollos, a man trained in Greek schools was p'refefred bv t hem. Paul also liad Borne ruarked physical infirmity, which was in a certain degree a hindrance to his success. the fact that lie was bred a Pharisee sonietimes made it hard for hiin to get a rilling and sympathetic hearing from the Gentiles. He might easily have pleaded, when he was called to preach to the Gentiles, that he was unfitted for thai special work. lint not a word of excuse dropped from his lips. Wilh a brave bul docile heart and with a heroic and fiery zeal he tlirew himself intö the work to whichGodcalledhim, and dashed through or over all the obstados in his path. Thnugh he might be deemed "rude" in speech, his burning words, that came straight from ahearl on lire with tlio passion for truth, wenl Btraighl lo the hearts of hearers, as such wonls so spoken neyer fail to go. In the face of all trials and disappointments and dangers onward he pushed straiirht towanls his goal. Lven in his later yeare, when physical infirniilies may well have begun to teil upnn him, the greal Apostle like au old ship with weakeaed huil, that shnkes and throbs with every beat of lier engine, vet tireleasly crowds her way on through the stormiest seas and finally reaches her distant port, bo Paul sfrtiggled on through the fiercest opposition and con(juered all the obstacles that orowded his path. Every man has diíllcnlties to encounter. Kuch one of you will at times íind a barrier straighl across his path. You are not to Bit down in despairin front of ii. Summon the spirit of St. Paul and make a way over it or thfough it. If there is any man fot whom we éannot cherish mucli respect, it is the man who goes through lile whining and snivelliiiii and explaining why he has failed of success. Many men would succeed fairlv, if they spent in earnest eflbrt halfthetime they waste in making excuses for lack of success. There is much truth in Franklin's saying, whether we apply it in college or outside of' college, " a man siood at framing excuses is good lor nothing else." Keep the perseverance of Si. I'aul ever in miiid. Every man with Pair intelligence and with iitegrity and earnestness of character unay command reasonable success. Paul'a success was no exception to the genera] rule. It is not forgotten tliat when D'Israeli lirst rose to speak in Parliament, he was laughed down, but as lie took hia he remarked, " Yon will live tu hear from me yet." So John Quincy Adams, " tlie oíd man eloquent," wrote in hia diary in the early part of his lite that it would be utterly impossible for him to become a public speaker. Biography is crowded with encouragements to persistent eilort. Aíter God's will diere is no suoh power on earth as the will man. In a wortiiy cause, with a noble spiril and a firm faith, it can say to mountains of diiliculty," " remove henee to vonder placo, and they shall remove.'' 3. In I he next place I would direct yonr attention to Si". Paul's spirit of courtesy. It has been well said of him that he wasthe model of the perfect gentleman, using that word gentleman in its noblest sense. He had not simply a familiarity with the proprieties of Bocial lili - a knowledge which is always of positive advantage, and which is sometiines not ajtpreciated ai its true value, - bul he had the real spirit of courtesy, the Bourcea of which are sympathy, friendliness of hear t, a proper and legitímate regard lor the good opinión of good men, a chivalric desire for the welfare of others. All these were combined in Pau!. No matter where he was, whether in t lie company of the humblest classes or of (rock philosophers, whether before the tribunal oí" a Roman Governoror in the augusl presence oí' the Emperor, he always had the fiuest sen se of & rum, the most delicate appreciatjon ot' his true relations to those whom ie was to asBociftte with or whom hc was to addn'-s. [f we 9 asked to select from all litera ture the diseourses which best exhibil the finest spirit of dignified courtesy, where could we find any raore striking in that regard than Sfc. Paui's addresa to Agtipp'a or than the discourse on Mars llill '. Although the Apostle was permeated with thia lofty spirit of courtesy, he did not lack for decided opinions, He had liot words with Peter and with Barnabas, but in spite o!' his differences with them he retained tliroughlife the friendsliip of hoth. Let us remember that rude bluntness and discourteoua heat of temper are not elements of permanent power with men, but rather subtractions f'rom it. A christian man has no Iju-iness to be other than a gentleman. Some men, who desire to be considered strong and manly seem to think that in politeness there is sotnething akin to efleminacy and therefore they manifest R certain conteinpt for it. lf by politeness we mean the minciug manners and affectations of those who devote tlieir whole lives to the trivialities of rashionable Bociety, this contenipt is deserved. Bul il' by politenesa we mean, as we ought, the courtesies which are boni of a proper regard for our fellows, then it is to be cherished as a grace of character and a valued help in lit'e. It is one of the besi lïuits of high culture of nriiid and soul. It softens the apperities which one must sometimes encounter in mingling with men. It smooths the pathway in which w must all occasionally find rough places. How many men there are who cannot differ with yon in opinión without losing their temper suspecting your motives. Even il' they happen to be sound in their opmions on tiie subject under discussion, they rob their argumenta oí half their force in the eyes of reasouable men by their nnreasonable display of piission. To differ amiably with omof your friemls on a subject, in which you aredeeply interested. is one of the besi resultsofour chria tian civilization. The man with genuine courtesy of spirit, though he inay be somewhat uninstriieted j in the coiiventional rules of society, is strong in the moral support and good wishes of all about liini and ín time oí need can count on the help of many outside of Iris own sect or party. The Bcholar may welcome a courteous temper anot the least valuable of his re sourees or the leat beemntng of Iris triares of character. 4. Another trait of St. Paul which challenges our admiration and imitation is what may be called the vigor of Iris spiritual ambition. It endowed liini with a sort of continued youthfulness oí enerjry. Some one lias compared liim in this respect with Alexander the Great, though the Macedonian conqueror died so young that the comparison is robbed oí a part of it s force. Still, with St. Paul as with Alexander, each victory was a stepping stone to fre&h victories. He never sat down content with what he had accomplished. Ile was ever pressing forward to some new acliievement. His fiery zeal was not abated by languor of soul. If the heavy burdens of disappointnient ever weighed him down, or the strong hand of persecution overpowered him fora season, with a marvelou8 spiritual resiliency he again to his former levéis of activity and power. In his rrepressible ardor Iris strength was ever renewed like the eagle's. Does history afford a more illustrious and stimulating example ol energv which never flagged ever, to Ihe very end oí' lus days? Forgetting Ihe thjnga which were be Eind, he was ever pressing forward towards the mark lor the pnze oi the high calling of God in Chris: Jesus. What a rebuke it is to those v are constantly planning howto gei exemption ('rom the burdena and heat of (lie day, who are cherishing epicurean ideáis oí' life, who are asking to be excused f rom doing theirfull part of' the work ot' man in tbeir day and generation. No one is more miserable than he who thus sneaks away from the battle of life, and like a coward or a shirk ludes himselfin theseclusion of dlene89. No man has a righl to be counted altogether out of the ranks so long as he can do some aseful service. Better die in tlie harness, if die you must, than to cumber the earth in idleness. Never was tlie world calling inore loudly for trained men in every vocaüon. Never were wider or richer harréate waitíng for laborera to thrusl in the Bickle. Iiut it is scholarly laborers, not learned dilettant] who are wanted. Do not enter upon your work with the purpose of withdrawing from active service as soon as your accumulations will permit you to do so. But rather resolve to devote your lives, if not to the calling which now awaits you, Mili to some vigorous effort for the good of mankind. Your eiijoyment of the privileges of a liberal education lays on you this duly and responsibility. b. Again, St. Paui's obedience to the hi avenly cali which canie to him on hisway to Damascus made liim a larger, nobler, more heroic man. Tnough he was by nature a man ol high courage, his devoXion to his Master made his courage sublime. It was t his which enabled him to face so bravely all perils by land and ali perils by sea, persecutions by rulers and persecutions by mobs. It was this which iiispii-ed him when the axe of Nero's headsman was already fla8hing in the air above him to write in serene trirfnfph, " I have fouhl the good fight: I have flnished the course; I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteoue Judge, -hall give to mo at that day." It was this which sustained him in his lonelincss and in the face of the opposition of his old friends. 11e was a man of strong social instinct, an ardent friend, a fascinating companion. Yet how many of his battles he had to iight comparatively alone. In how many he had to contend against the friends of his youth. What rebukes he must have had to bear froin his old teachers and the high Jewish officials who had looked to him (o becoiiie oueof thecoi spicnous leaders in their church. To forfeit their friendship, to turn his back on all ihe high Oeclesiástica! to whicFi iie might justly aspire, to incur the íieree hostil i ty ot' the men he was tauirht in his youth to honor, to casi in his lot with despised Gentiles and Tor the mos! pari those of the humblest clase, 1 his indeed ealled ibr heroie qualities of inind and soul.. Bul more than this. To bear the dis appointment which often op pressed liis soul, as lie saw the spiritual weakness, and, at times, the otter defection of those in whom he supposed the germs of Bpiritual lile were planted, to see -cnsual Corinthians turning the most sacred ordinances of the Master into occasions lor gluttony, to lind so few who could become his true companions by living in the saine high plane of spiritual attainment which he had reached, these trials required perhaps a higher fortitude than was needed to confront persecutions or even a inariyr's death. None of us, thank God, are called to such grave trials as tested the soul of et. Paul. But every life has its triáis. The same spirit ot devotion and faith which sustained him will sustain us in the great emergenciesof life. It will fortify the humblest and most timid with fresh courage. It will reinforce us in our weakness with a measure o! divine strengt h, which will enable us to bear with resignation, if not with cheerl'ulness, the disappointments and sorrows ihat are appojnted to us. When we are called to stand alone lor what we deern the right even at the cost of se vering some of the dearest friendships, it will comfort us with the joy of heavenly companionship in our way. There is no other power comparable to this lor the exaltation and glorifying of a human soul in all its earthly journey. What a contrast there is between the narrow, bigoted, pernecuting Saul of Tarsos and the great Saint Paul, statesman, philosopher, poet, apostle ! Where shall we look for a more statesman-like exposition of the relations of citizen and mag istrate than in the thirteenth chapter of the epistle to the Roman-: Where for a more philosophic statement of the doctrine of sin than in the early chapters oí the same Epistle? Where lor a more beautiful poem on charity than that which constitutes the thirteenth chapter of t he íirst letter to the Oorinthians? Where has there been a teacher, aller the i ne Great Teacher, who lias beca for eenturies and wlio is to-daj bo moulding the opiniona of men '. Gamaliel, hisrenowned instructor, ept from the tact that St. Paul once sat at his feet. The teachinga of Paul we re a greal fórceeven before his death, 11 the w;:y l'rotn the burningsands of Arabia lo the Pillara ot' Hercules. And how they have Bince been carried on written or on printed page and on eloquent tonguea of thousands of apostles to the Gentiles over trackless seas and mountain ranges to the very ends of' the earth. And everywhere and in all the ages they have been the power óf God unto the salvation of men. Such has been and such will continue to be the immeasurable f'orce of this great soul which was so aflamo with love to his Master. It is diilicult to set limita to the influence of the gifted mind wtiich is devoted to the discovery, expo sition and illustration ot' moral truth in the spirit of faith in the autlior jol' trntll. It is ie who must win the great victories in the world of spiritual thought. Truth reveáis her most precioua secreta to the lieart, whose gates open Godward. It has not been the doubtera who have won the chiet' triumphs in the domain of moral and spiritual trulh, or who have set the world forward with their great achievements. It. has been rather, from the oldest days to the present, the men who believe sotnething that have done something. It has been to loving, tru8ting Bonla that God lias speeially made known his ways. It has been to the leader ship of these Bame souls, made positive and daring and aggregsive by their unconquerable faith, that the world has yielded itself and so has found iis way to lol'tier heighta of attainment. The same spiritual helps which were vouchsafed to St. Paul are promised to every one of you who is ready to receive them in childlike trust, in the Father. None of iis has his natural endowments, and so none of us can hope to be a St. Paul. But every one of' us can have his mind illuminated, his heart enlarged, his strengt h reinf'orced, his lile exalted and gloriiied by welcoming, as he welcomed, the divine aid, and by obeying, as he obeyed, the great 'commands to love the Lord with all the heart and to love his neighboras himself'. There is the true philosophy and the true art of lito. I know there are those who maintain that we havo outgrown the age oí' St. Paul and have at our command in modern discoveries holler helps (han hisfor the making of eharacter and the developmen) of mimi and the conducl of life. But when we mark tlie spiritual torces that made a band of the i J 1 itérate fishermen teachers of the world, that indued those brief pamphlet8 whicli we cali the gospels with such a power as no other human productious possess, that changed the dissolute student Angustine into the great St. Augustine, at whose feel the firsl Lhinkers of the last fifteen oentuiv ies have been proud to sit, tint transformed the profane imker John Bunyan into the inspired dreamer to whose visión the heavena were opened, Ihat lifted the lininliK' nionk Martin Lutlier to the leadership of the ReJbrmation, that has exalted so inany of the humblest disciplea to the high station of martyra and héroes and guidea of the rae;', we must couclude thal those forces cannot be despised or disregarded with imnunity in any place or in any age. The divine aids by which God enabled Saul of Tarsus to grow into llie Apostle Paul no onc of us eau aíFord to Bpurn. Lel us strive to follow hitn iu so i'aras lie followed Ihe Master and to attain, ii' possi ble, unto the stature of perfect manhood in Chris) Jesus. After you leave these halls persevere in study, so iha) the torch kindled each day may light you on to firrther attainrrients. Otiltivate the spirit of courtesy (hat the wishes of ten thousand frieuds roay ever be waftinii you on yonr course. Oherish your highesl vigor and elasticity of mind and of sou 1 so that your lite may yield its largesl and richesl Iruitage even to the end. Above all keep your heart open to the heavenly inflnences. the piles of' inspiration. which God deliiihts to send to the docile and childlike spirits of his household. Soyou may at last come serenely to the end of your days, whether those days be many or few. As the stars at twilight break out one by one on the face of the heavens, so one by one the significant stars will appear upon the pages of the General Catalogue against your names, telling that your work here is done. God grant that we all may sa live that, when the-closing days of ourcareer are ut hand, we may each be able lo pay in the vvords of the great Apostle, " I have fonghl the good Bght. I have kept the faitii. Henceforth t here is laid up for_ me i he crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteoús Judge, shall give to me al thal day; and not only tó me, ut also to all them thal have !oved iiis appearing."