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Apostle Paul Series



Mission Greatly Possible

Part One



By Tom Stephens

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This was the day Saul was to meet with the high priest to request letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus. With his help, he wanted to arrest every follower of this, Jesus. He would bring every one of them back to Jerusalem in chains! Saul, a Pharisee, was so zealous in his own Jewish beliefs that he conducted his personal persecution campaign against all who believed “in the way” of salvation.



In Acts 9, we find the story.



“Saul, breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of ‘this way’, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,



“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?



“Who Art Thou, Lord?



“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the **********



As Saul lay there trembling in the dust, he must have been reeling from this revelation. “Incredibly, the Lord has spoken to me!” And in astonishment, he asks,



“What will Thou have me to do?”



“Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.”



This was a directive.



Saul had been traveling on horseback with other men. Though they were yet standing, they were speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul, blinded because of the light of the Lord, cried out for his friends to guide him into Damascus. For the first time in his life, Saul felt the wonders of the Saviour. Little did he know, but it was only the beginning of the incredible relationship he would have with the one he once persecuted.



Saul was in Damascus for three days, blind and without food or drink.



But God knew where Saul was and He spoke in a vision to Ananias, one of the “terrible” Christians Paul sought to destroy.



“Ananias.”



“Yea, I am here, Lord.”



“The Lord said unto him, ‘Get up and go into the street which is called Straight, and ask in the house of Judas for a man called Saul, of Tarsus: for he is in prayer, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.’”



Ananias: “Not him, Lord: that’s impossible. Saul would never become a Christian!”



“But Lord, I have heard the horrible things this man has done to believers in Jerusalem! And we hear that he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest all the believers in Damascus. [Lord, he laughed while watching them stone Stephen, a man filled with the Holy Ghost.] (Italics, statement added.)



Paul never exaggerated his past. As a hater of Christianity, Saul led a harsh opposition for the growing churches of Asia; and scripture reveals Saul as the archenemy of this young body of believers:

· He stood watching while Stephen was stoned to death, greatly approving of it (8:1).

· From house to house, Saul arrested, and imprisoned Christian men and women (8:3).

· He was still crying out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples (9:1).

· Paul also testified against himself. “Many times I went from one synagogue to another to have the Christians punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme against God” (26:11).

· “I persecuted the followers of this way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison” (22:4).

· “I too was convinced I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (26:9).

· “I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13).



Paul’s sight returns and he is filled with God’s Holy Spirit:



But that is behind; behold, where sin did once abound, now Grace much more abounds! (Romans 6:1, 2)



It’s almost impossible for me to grasp the awesome moving of God’s Spirit in the life of Saul, molding him into possibly the most powerful and most godly man since the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Most of the doctrines of the Church came through Paul by revelation of the Holy Spirit. All through the books of Paul, especially Romans, the apostle taught strongly that we must renounce all sin; stressing that sin should never be allowed to continue dwelling in God’s people (Romans 1:18; 2:12; 5:21; 6:1-2, 12-23).



In Damascus, Saul had waited for three days, fasting. No food and no water, period. Saul was shaken. Nothing, except God Himself could have succeeded in turning around Saul of Tarsus! Certainly no man! Saul had wanted to see the Church of Jesus Christ perish, this despicable, cursed body of pagans!



As David had cried out to God to "create within me a new heart, a heart of flesh", so had Saul also humbled himself before the Master. During the three days, Saul witnessed the most incredible change in his heart. God had met with him fully and completely by His Spirit, and would change him from inside out—not only physically—but by showing Himself miraculously to Paul.



He wept, maybe not the same way Peter wept after denying the Lamb of God. But he wept. And with the tears flowing also came the bitterness and hatred that only a few days earlier had been the source of his life. Saul saw at last the markings of the enemy. He then determined in his heart to serve the God Who gave His Son on Calvary’s cross. This fasting period for Saul brought him in humility to the very feet of Jesus.



Saul was a changed man, so changed that his Saviour gave him a new name, Paul. And because Ananias would never disobey the words of Jesus, he went on his way to the house of Judas where he met with Paul. Placing hands on him, Ananias said, “The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in ‘the way’ as thou came, hath sent me that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”



He thought of the God’s Word to him concerning Saul, “This man is to be used as an instrument in My hands to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”



Carelessness will cause us to miss it. “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”



Funny how so many Christian folks figure sufferings to be from the devil to hurt, torment, and even to destroy. It makes me think of James, when he said, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” And in Luke 10:19, when Jesus said, “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing by any means shall hurt you.”





Read any of Paul’s epistles against the backdrop of his previous life and the change in more than just his name becomes readily apparent. In Galatians 1:1, he described himself as an apostle. He accepted the role Jesus had called him to when He appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He recognized this as a Divine calling from God alone. God's calling was neither, “from” or “by” man.

Persecutions and trials are growing pains for the Christian. Paul saw his share of them. But he stood tall to the very end shouting Christ’s victories over the enemy and his (Paul’s) sharing these same victories with Jesus, claiming his eternal crowns. Let Paul himself tell you:



“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.



I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.



Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly bum? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor or under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands” (2 Corinthians 11:23‑33).



Be careful not to fall into the trap in believing Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was weakness (blindness and physical problems), for we have seen in Romans 9 the healing of Paul’s sight (we have no reason whatsoever to believe Paul had physical problems outside of his sufferings. Some believe the “thorn” might have been pride in his overabundance of revelations from the Holy Spirit; but more likely was Paul’s sufferings as listed in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 above.



Saul, now Paul, reveals just what the Lord meant when He said, ‘I will show him the things he must suffer for my name.”



To confirm to you this is true, read Acts 26, Paul’s account of the revelation he received at the moment he fell from his horse:



“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”



“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith., Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).



Saul’s entire mindset and belief system were turned upside down when he realized that Christ was not dead, but alive! Christ was not merely a Nazarene rabble‑rouser; he was the Messiah, God’s Son!




Remembering His Words:



· In Acts 9: 11-12, Jesus said to Ananias, “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.”



· In Acts 9: 15,16, Jesus made the following statement to Ananias (when he complained to Jesus concerning the reputation of Saul): “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (2 Corinthians 11:23-33).



· And In verses 17-18, “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” [in water].



Paul, in Galatians 1 testifies to the many powerful characteristics he obtained through the Holy Ghost shortly following his salvation… though he was taught the Old Testament Scriptures by the highest scholar, Gamaliel, he stated specifically that he was not taught any New Testament Scripture by any man; and, in fact, he avoided returning to Jerusalem where the Apostles would be. Instead, the Lord sent him out into the desert of Arabia—Paul’s supernatural Bible College in the desert—then to Damascus for three years. Continuing, he stated that he then returned to Jerusalem and spent 15 days with Peter, but saw no other Apostles save James, the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:11-23).



He spoke of torments, beatings, imprisonments, and so on. He did not say his “Thorn in the flesh” was his weakness of vision and frailty of body. The answer to Paul’s thorn comes immediately before he speaks of his thorn, in 2 Corinthians 11:22-33.



He said, “About the things I am telling you, I lie not.”



Paul was amazing. Why? Because those three years in the desert with the Holy Spirit produced many of the doctrines of the church of Jesus Christ (see Galatians 1:11-14):



“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”



Closure: I have thoroughly studied the book of Romans, as many of you have; and because of that, I realize that not all men of God are being deceived: by the statements of Romans 7. If you continue to believe that Paul was really “still Saul” living in the flesh (law), then you may never realize the true difference between “Walking in the flesh”, and “Walking in the Spirit of God.” All you may know is that one is of the law; the other is of the Spirit of God. But do you understand how to decipher this chapter by His Spirit?



Watch for my Part Two, revealing why Romans 7 was “Saul” and Romans 8, “Paul.” In the meantime, why not go deeper into the two chapters carefully and maybe figure it out for yourself.



“Watch and pray that you may be found worthy to escape the trial and tribulation that soon will come on the whole earth, on all them who dwell on earth” (Luke 21:35, 36 ).

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Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
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