14-16. DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH. His Love of Cities. 17, 18. HOME. 19-26. EDUCATION. 19. Roman citizenship; 20. Tent-making; 21, 22. Knowledge of Greek Literature; 23-26. Rabbinical Training. Gamaliel. Knowledge of Old Testament. 27-30. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT. 28. The Law; 29, 30. Departure from and return to Jerusalem. 31-33. STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Stephen. 34-36. THE PERSECUTOR. 13. God's Plan.--Persons whose conversion takes place after they are grown up are wont to look back upon the period of their life which has preceded this event with sorrow and shame and to wish that an obliterating hand might blot the record of it out of existence. St. Paul felt this sentiment strongly: to the end of his days he was haunted by the specters of his lost years, and was wont to say that he was the least of all the apostles, who was not worthy to be called an apostle, because he had persecuted the Church of God. But these somber sentiments are only partially justifiable. God's purposes are very deep, and even in those who know Him not He may be sowing seeds which will only ripen and bear fruit long after their godless career is over. Paul would never have been the man he became or have done the work he did, if he had not, in the years preceding his conversion, gone through a course of preparation designed to fit him for his subsequent career. He knew not what he was being prepared for; his own intentions about his future were different from God's; but there is a divinity which shapes our ends, and it was making him a polished shaft for God's quiver, though he knew it not.