rules of conduct dictated by reason--will be ready to say with the apostle, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Hence they, as well as those guilty of more flagrant sins, will, as faith takes possession of their minds, be brought to repentance through its influence, and be led to seek forgiveness of their sins, and reconciliation with God. That repentance is the first result growing out of faith in God and the Gospel, is abundantly proven from the scriptures. The multitude that assembled on the day of Pentecost, and listened to the remarks of the apostles, and even heard them speak in tongues, by the power of the Holy Ghost, were ready to scoff at those things, and even went so far as to say that these men were drunken with new wine; but when Peter arose and reasoned with them from the scriptures, proving from the law and the prophets that Jesus, whom the Jews had slain, was both Lord and Christ, his words and testimony were accompanied by so much of the power of God, that conviction took hold of the people, and, as with one voice, they cried, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" In this instance, then, the first fruits of that faith which had been created in the minds of this people, was a desire to know what they were to do; and the first words that the inspired apostle said in reply were, "Repent, every one of you."[A] [Footnote A: Acts ii.] Paul, of Tarsus, afterwards the great apostle to the Gentiles, at first persecuted the disciples of Jesus, casting both men and women into prison for what he considered their blasphemous faith. And when Stephen was martyred, Paul stood by and held the clothes of those who did the ghastly, cruel deed. He appears to have been proud of and zealous in the prosecution of this work of opposition; but when the Lord appeared to him on the way to Damascus, and announced himself as Jesus whom he persecuted, the ambitious, arrogant Paul was immediately humbled to the dust, and in tremulous accents he inquired, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?"[B] How deep the sorrow, how sincere the repentance was which began in the very moment of his learning the fact that Jesus was the Lord, is witnessed by his life of zealous labors and his suffering in the interest of the kingdom of Messiah. [Footnote B: Acts ix.]