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I. PERSECUTING CHRIST'S CHURCH.

1. A birthright among God's chosen people did not keep Paul from early persecution of those who believed on God's Son. We may have been born in a Christian land, and still not be Christians.

2. A most complete education did not restrain Paul from persecuting Christ's followers. We may be college educated and still remain bigoted, ignorant, opposers of the truth.

3. A. consuming zeal only made Paul's mistaken activity the more disastrous. We had better never be zealous than to have a zeal only for the wrong.

4. A relentless determination rendered Paul's evil work of persecuting increasingly evil. We are so much the worse off for having a strong will, if it be a wrong will.

5. A hatred of the Way led Paul into the way of persecuting. If we do not love the Saviour, we shall soon find ourselves attacking those who do.

II. HEARING CHRIST'S VOICE.

1. The great light shone in the broad glare of noonday. The Divine glory overshadows any earthly radiance.

2. The Divine voice called the sinner by name. Christ addresses each personally, and it is a waste of time to plead that the message was intended for someone else.

3. It was Jesus who was persecuted. Our sins are chiefly not against our friends, ourselves, or our Church; but against our Saviour.

4. The true answer to the Divine warning is, "What shall I do, Lord?" What we have done, we may repent of — what we shall do tests the sincerity of our repentance.

5. The Lord sent Paul right on to Damascus, whither the apostle had been journeying before. Christianity doesn't take a man out of his earthly surroundings; it sends him on to Damascus, but with a new purpose and new hope.

6. The beginning of the Christian life is in faith. We must trustfully wait until we reach Damascus for God's plans regarding our life to be unfolded.

7. The new vision of heavenly things may well blind our eyes to the things of this world.

8. The reclaimed wanderer, the regenerated persecutor, the regained evil-doer, are all sure witnesses of what power there is in the Christian life.

III. CALLED TO CHRIST'S SERVICE.

1. We need to make haste and get to our field of Christian labour — especially if, like Paul, we have spent the early years of our life in opposing Christianity.

2. We have a right to select the home mission field as our place of labour, but if God indicates that our place is among the foreign missions, it is our duty to go thither.

3. We shall always feel hampered by the record of opposition that preceded our acceptance of Christ, but we can do thorough work for Christ nevertheless.

4. We are responsible alike for our doing and for our consenting to what others do. We may become implicated in the murder of Stephen without having cast a stone.

5. We may rightfully pause and deliberate and consider regarding our future course until God cuts it short with a peremptory "Depart." Then we must at once arise and go.

(S. Times.)

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KJV: Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

WEB: "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you."