Dateline: 37 A.D
Reporting Source : Acts 9: 4-6
Involved Parties: The risen Lord Jesus Christ, Saul (Paul) of Tarsus, Saul’s traveling companions.
Age(s) of Parties: Our Lord Jesus Christ – eternal: Saul of Tarsus - in his early thirties Purpose of Journey: Saul seeks to arrest the followers of Christ in Damascus.
Incident Location: Damascus Road – near Syria
Specific Incident: Divine Revelation. Saul knocked to ground by dazzling light from heaven.
Event Summary: Saul hears the voice of Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?
Response Summary: Saul, temporarily blinded, dazed and confused. Manages to mutter,
“Who are you, Lord?”
Incident Summary: Saul has suddenly become what he hated – a follower of Jesus Christ.
Saul of Tarsus - a magnificent picture of the mercy of God. History records a complex man bearing an infinite passion that, perhaps, no other man has so embraced. He was a man of inexhaustible zeal; a tiger of the tribe of Benjamin with claws that brutally tore the flesh of Christians in Jerusalem and beyond.
Yet at the same time, examine what Paul wrote about himself in 1 Corinthians 2: 1-3
“I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.”
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Paul was wonderfully obedient to Jesus, yet he was as weak as we are. Paul is a glorious example of what can be accomplished for God if the Holy Spirit is permitted to take over in our lives.
The dateline poised above provides a snapshot of Saul of Tarsus’ involuntary introduction to the Creator of the universe - the same Creator whom Saul was persecuting. Saul was divinely selected as the vessel through which the Creator Jesus would reach both Jew and Gentile with the revolutionary new Gospel of Grace.
Saul’s eventual ministry to the Gentiles would unfold as a symphony of brilliance that merged with the uncompromising fulfillment of his compelling personal will. Charged by the Creator of all things, both visible and indivisible, to carry out and administer Jesus’ Gospel of Grace to both Jew and Gentile, Saul executed his mission with a magnificent “controlled fury.”
The Incredible Perseverance of the Apostle Paul
Saul, better known to the world by his Roman name, Paul (Paulus), seemed, if it were possible, to have possessed an almost “doubling” of the power of the Holy Spirit. Despite his privations, beatings, stonings, fears, whippings, as well as his veritable homelessness, he nevertheless fulfilled the incredible ministry Jesus assigned him with brilliance.
For nearly twenty years (37 A.D. - 66 A.D.), Paul emptied himself of his human will to serve as a vessel from which the Holy Spirit freely operated. The great apostle’s astounding persistence established pockets of Gentile believers outside of the Nation of Israel.
Despite his profound influence and tireless efforts, Paul recorded in 2 Timothy 1: 15a his disappointment in apparently losing his converts in Asia (Turkey):
“This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me.”
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Speculation as to the reason why the Christians in Asia turned away from Paul is plentiful.
However, at least as far as I can determine, there is no definitive explanation that provides the answer. Perhaps they forsook Paul upon finding he had been arrested and imprisoned.
It is obvious that they neglected to maintain brotherhood and friendship when he needed it most. Perhaps these weak Christians feared for their own lives after finding out Paul was in prison. Maybe the false teachers mentioned in 2 Timothy 1: 15b (Phygellus and Hermogenes), spread dissent among his converts.
Whatever the reason for the Asian Christians’ defection from Paul and Christ, the amazing apostle of Jesus, Paul of Tarsus, has done more than any other man (other than Jesus) to spare no effort in helping the lost find salvation.
When Jesus dramatically introduced Himself to Paul on the Damascus Road, Jesus asked:
“Saul, Saul, why perecutest thou me?”
(Acts 9: 4b)
How is it possible that Paul was personally persecuting Jesus? Jesus was present in heaven with His Father.
As you surmise, when Paul was imprisoning and murdering Christians, he was also coming against the Creator of the universe. I bring this to your attention because Paul, and only Paul, tells us in his epistles that we are the Body of Christ, of which Jesus is the head.
One cannot cause injury to the body and not have it affect its entire system. The point I am making is that because we are the Body of Christ, nothing can occur that will separate us from Jesus. Therefore, when deceivers state that we must endure the tribulation, Jesus must similarly share our doom.
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If the antichrist persecutes us in the tribulation, then, as Acts 9: 4b indicates, he must also persecute Jesus. This is yet another reason why we will not have to face the tribulation.
The Radical Transformative Power of the Gospel of Grace
Paul was commissioned to bring to the world the new Gospel of Grace given in 1Corinthians 15: 3-4, which tells us that,
“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that He was buried, and
that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
This was the “good news” that broke free of the Mosaic law. It was a new message designed for a new people – the Body of Christ. John 1:17 states that:
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
In thinking about God’s choice of Saul to serve as minister for Jesus’ new message to the Gentile world, it forces us to study how extraordinarily interesting and thought provoking are God’s thoughts and decisions. It most dramatically serves as a stark reminder of just how merciful and loving God is to sinful man.
God’s choice of selecting Saul to deliver the Gospel of Grace, or what Galatians 2: 7
alternatively called “the Gospel of the Uncircumcision,” should remind us of God’s complete sovereignty. He knows what is best for His children and we are to completely rely and trust upon His decisions. He has never failed.
Saul of Tarsus - the Hit Man of Jerusalem
Saul, or Paul, was a brutal persecutor of early Christians. A verse in the book of Acts 8: 3, provides us with a glimpse of Paul’s hatred for followers of Christ:
“As for Saul, he made havock of the Church, entering into every house, and
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hailing men and women committed them to prison.”
Another graphic description of Paul’s pre-conversion zeal follows:
“And Saul, yet 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 unto Jerusalem.”
(Acts 9: 1-2)
It was with this same zealous fervor that Paul served Jesus in his ministry. We can only surmise why God chose Saul of Tarsus to present the Gospel of Grace to the Gentiles.
However, in our Lord’s perfect sovereignty, it is obvious that Paul was our Lord’s perfect choice.
Read what Isaiah 55: 8-9 says about God being in complete control of all things:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Referring to the apostle Paul, I had earlier touched upon two of his specific names presented in the Bible. The reader may be curious about the duality of Paul’s (Saul) two names. His Hebrew name was Shaul (Saul).
This was the name that Jesus used to solicit Paul’s attention on the Damascus Road in Acts 9:4. However, Paul was also a Roman citizen by virtue of being born in the Roman province of Cilicia, of which Tarsus was the capitol. Tarsus remains today a city in south-central Turkey.
Paul’s Roman name was a common one – Paulus (Paul).
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We know that Paul ministered in the Roman Empire. Hence, he used his Roman name in his day-to-day activities, fully maximizing its utility as he spread Jesus’ Gospel of Grace during his missionary journeys.
Paul’s name is mentioned 157 times in the Bible. The name of Saul is referred to 22 times.
This disparity in the usage of Paul’s proper name highlights Paul’s distance from his Jewish roots. Acts 13:9 serves to display how the scriptures similarly observed the recognition in names:
“Then Saul, (who also is called Paul), filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on
him (Elymas the sorcerer).”
So there you have it – ready to impress your Bible study class with your new knowledge.
The Ongoing Rapture Controversy
Let us now re-focus on Paul, the Rapture and you. It has already been stated that Christendom is most certainly divided concerning the reality and doctrine of the Rapture. The clamor and noise that accompanies the divergent views on the nature of the Rapture is reminiscent of the early Church at Corinth - it was chaotic.
This same chaos, this same confusion, certainly attends to the theme of the Rapture, both within and without of today’s Christian Church. However, in the midst of studying about the Rapture, it is vitally important to ask God to help give you clarity and understanding as you read and process the contents of this book.
In all probability, you have read scriptures in this book that you never realized were even in the Bible. You may have been taken by surprise as you learned about Bible truths that “stare you in the face,” yet seem so foreign to everything you’ve learned sitting in the pews at Church 137
and in your Sunday school class.
As I wrote this book, I continually asked God to direct my thoughts, control my emotions, and give me the ability to write precisely what God wanted me to write. Each word, sentence and paragraph must reflect the very message that God wants you to receive in this book.
Understanding and believing what the Holy Scriptures tell you about the Rapture is key to finding peace and yes, even joy, as you daily observe how dangerous and treacherous this world is becoming.
Our sense of stability and security is being assaulted virtually every moment as we witness the horrors of earthquakes, tsunamis, kingdoms rising up against kingdoms, government corruption, spreading terrorism, drug abuse, economic shocks, sexual perversion, unemployment, oil “shortages,” nuclear threats, radical Islamic suicide bombers, horrid violence on our streets, schools, and places of business, and countless other last days prophecies that are being fulfilled.
However, my dear brother or sister, know this. It is our blessed Lord Jesus Christ who is our
Rock; our only hope as we live out our lives in the midst of a dying world. Psalm 62:6-8
reassures us that:
“He is my rock and my salvation; for my expectation is from Him. He only is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the Rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
Do you believe it? The reader would be wise if he or she begins to follow the wisdom of 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19:
“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.”
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The Approaching Storms of Madness
Our lives are going to shortly become much more difficult. Many woes are heading our way. The persecution of American Christians is already ramping up. Do you recall when Reverend Franklin Graham was “disinvited” to attend a Pentagon prayer meeting in the spring of 2010? Or when the National Day of Prayer was labeled unconstitutional?
Do you similarly remember that Obama ordered Christian symbols to be concealed during a talk he had at Georgetown University?
You may be familiar with the story about a Pastor in England being jailed for calling homosexuality a sin. This is only the first step. Soon, and mark my words with a yellow highlighter, if a Christian states that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, their statement will become a hate-crime.
Why? Because the persecutors believe that Christians are targeting them for not believing Jesus is the “only” way to find salvation and forgiveness of sins. They will rationalize that Christians hate those who do not believe as we do. It’s coming. As of April 2011, the United Nations is working on this “hate crimes against Islam” bill.
Allow me to issue God’s warning to all readers:
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.”
(2 Timothy 2: 12) There will soon come a day when you must choose whom you will serve. If you are not strong in your faith, you may whimper and turn-tail when the persecution begins. It may start with radical Muslims, or homosexual activist groups, or our Congress and Senate, President Obama and/or Obama’s handpicked “czars,” who wield enormous power with no “oversight.”
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It is not my goal to frighten you. However, I feel it my responsibility to warn Christians about what is most probable in our futures. Jesus warned of this reality in John 15: 20:
“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you…”
Although this message was directed to Jesus’ Jewish disciples, the message clearly advances itself into our generation. But all true Christians have received the power of the Holy Spirit to help us and strengthen us when we face our many trials as pilgrims on planet earth. Believe that His power will never fail you. It is a matter of faith.
I remind you of this question. Who is in control?
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew
himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect (mature) toward him..."
(2 Chronicles 16:9) Developing Spiritual Maturity
The only way to learn the truth about the pre-tribulation Rapture is directly from Jesus Christ. That is how Paul of Tarsus learned about it. I pray that your introduction to the words of Jesus will not be as dramatic as it was for Paul!
As you continue to read this book, pray for guidance and understanding in how best to make changes in your spiritual growth. Paul provides a perfect metaphor in evaluating spiritual maturity in 1 Corinthians 3: 2:
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear
it, neither yet now are ye able.”
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In Paul’s ministry, he worked with people bearing varying levels of spiritual growth. New converts were fed the very basics of Christian doctrines (milk); more mature Christians were taught the deeper Christian principles (meat).
1 Corinthians 3: 2 tells us that some of Paul’s converts could not digest the meat of certain Biblical doctrines. They failed to understand the weightier realities of scripture. Not only did Paul’s converts have a problem with some scriptures.
Peter struggled mightily with Paul‘s Gospel, apparently finding much of it difficult to process.
Peter was buried in legalism, which was the origin of his struggle to comprehend Paul‘s doctrines:
“And account (understand) that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things,
which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned unstable wrest…”
(2 Peter 3: 15-16)
Paul once again shrewdly uses the application of the milk metaphor in Hebrews 5: 12-13, to make a salient point. In this passage, Paul is speaking of “baby Christians” who have been in the Church for several years, yet have obviously not matured spiritually:
“For when the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles (word) of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not the strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
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Quite a chastisement from Paul to the immature Christians, is it not?. He was deeply concerned about the varying levels of understanding and inspiration found in the members of the Churches he planted. God expected His children to grow; not to remain complacent as to their spiritual health. He expects the same from us today.
The Christians identified in the above scripture had apparently been in the Church for a number of years. They should have been, at this point in their Christian walk, sufficiently rounded in the scriptures in order for them to be able to teach other Christians.
Conversely, let’s observe what Hebrews 5: 14 says about the spiritual discernment and wisdom of the more stable Christian:
“But strong meat belonged to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
These are the strong-in-the-faith Christians who have studied God’s word. These are they whose hearts and minds were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. They buried God’s word in their innermost being.
These are they who fully understand that the pre-tribulation Rapture has been planned from eternity past. Similarly, they are cognizant of their responsibilities to inform other Christians lacking spiritual motivation and discernment.
These wonderful verses teach us about the Christian’s perennial struggle to study, learn, and apply the doctrines and precepts that Jesus wants us to possess. It is only a matter of desire. If we want it bad enough, we will achieve it.