But he came to learn that not as a privileged Jew, but as a sinful man, had Divine grace found him out. The righteousness of God was revealed to him on terms which brought it within the reach of every human being. The Son of God whom he now beheld was a personage vastly greater than his national Messiah, the " Christ after the flesh " of his Jewish dreams, and his gospel was correspondingly loftier and larger in its scope. " God was in Christ, reconciling," not a nation, but a "world unto himself." The " grace " conferred on him was given that he might " preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," and make all men see the mystery of the counsel of redeeming love. It was the world's redemption of which St. Paul partook ; and it was his business to let the world know it. He had fathomed the depths of sin and self -despair ; he had tasted the uttermost of pardoning grace. God and the world met in his single soul, and were re- conciled. In his latest Epistles, he declares that "the grace of God which appeared " to him, was " for the salvation of all men." " Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief." The same revelation that made St. Paul a Christian made him an Apostle of mankind.
^ Often at the beginning of the new life we attempt to forecast the work which we hope to accomplish. We take into account our tastes and aptitudes, our faculties and talents, our birth and circumstances. From these we infer that we shall probably succeed best along a certain line of useful activity. But as the moments lengthen into years, it becomes apparent that the door of opportunity is closing in that direction. It is a bitter disappoint- ment. We refuse to believe that the hindrances to the fulfilment of our cherished hopes can be permanent. Patience, we cry, will
346 THE INNER REVELATION
conquer every difficulty. The entrance may be strait, but surely it is passable. At last we reach the wide and large place of sucoesa- ful achievement. We cast ourselves against the closing door, as sea birds on the illuminated glass of the lighthouse tower, to fall dazed and bewildered to the ground. And it is only after such a period of disappointment that we come to perceive that God's ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts ; and that He has other work for us to do, for which He has been preparing us, though we knew it not. When we are young we gird ourselves, and attempt to walk whither we will ; but in after years we are guided by Another, and taken whither we would not.^
Is there some desert or some boundless sea Where Thou, great God of angels, wilt send me? Some oak for me to rend, some sod
For me to break. Some handful of thy corn to take And scatter far afield. Till it in turn shall yield Its hundredfold Of grains of gold, To feed the happy children of my God? Show me the desert, Pather, or the sea.
Is it Thine enterprise? Great God, send me! And though this body lie where ocean rolls, Father, count me among All Faithful Souls .'^
» r. B. Meyer, Paul, 65. « Edward E. Hale.
The Spiritual Life.
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The Spiritual Life.