Tuesday: From Saul to Paul
Read Acts 9:1-22, the story of Paul’s conversion. How was this experience linked to his missionary calling? See also Acts 26:16-18.
Right from the start, it was clear that the Lord had intended to use Paul to reach both Jews and Gentiles. No other event in Paul’s preparation as missionary and theologian compared in importance to his conversion; indeed, often in his witness he would talk about that experience.
Now get up and stand on your feet.
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
(Acts 26:16 NIV). Paul couldn’t preach or teach about what he didn’t know. No, instead he would preach and teach out of his own experiences, with and knowledge of the Lord, all the time in harmony with the Word of God. (See Rom. 1:1-2.)I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me
Read Acts 26:18. What would be the result of Paul’s work?
From this we can see five results of authentic missionary work:
- Open people’s eyes. Make God and Jesus real, present, active, and appealing.
- Move from darkness to light, ignorance to knowledge—a core gospel theme. (See Luke 1:78-79.)
- Turn from the power of Satan to God.
- Receive forgiveness of sins. The problem of sin has a solution. This is the living, healing, core message of Christians.
- Receive a place among the sanctified; this means membership in God’s church, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or nationality.
If someone were to ask you, What about your own experience with Jesus? What can you tell me about Him?
what would you say?
(21)
Jesus saved my life .After my mother passed away I sunk into a deep depression doing things I would not normally do which made it even worse . I got involved with a man from my past /he was mean verbally abusive he seemed to separate from me we were no longer a union so we married things got even worse / I ended up sleeping in my car for three months afraid to sleep inside not sure what was going on/every night I prayed and daily read my bible . soon the man asked if I would do marriage counciling I said ok . we were in front of the councilor talking and he asked me if I would meet him in another room I wasn\'t sure why so I did . when he came in he asked how long have you had ptsd I told since I was a child.I feel as though the lord sent me that day to that meeting after three years of therapy I am finally back to my self thank you jesus
everything is possible with God.
Something worth noting in Saul’s conversion is though he was not alone the light from Heaven did not have the same effect on his companions as it did on him (Acts 9:3-7). The voice heard by the men accompanying Saul did not make sense to them. It amounted to foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-21). The power of God was on display but to the eyes of the unspiritual the light was dim and to the ears the voice was noise.
When the latter rain falls it will make no difference to some in the church (Luke 17:34-36); for they will be busy kicking against the goads, pursuing their own agenda (Acts 9:5). Those ready for it will receive it, while others around will simply be baffled, not knowing what to make of what they observe (Acts 9:7).
Boosted by angelic support (Hebrews 1:14) the simple and straight preaching and sharing of those filled with the Spirit is attended by unusual power missing from the clever and superficial efforts of others (1 Corinthians 2:4).
Be mindful as well the angel of Revelation 18:1 pictured as illuminating the earth with his glory does not convert everyone. As it is now the majority will still reject the loud cry, but the faithful are not discouraged by rejection anymore then than now; for it is really the Lamb, Jesus who is turned down (Acts 9:5; Revelation 17:14).
As light shines from Heaven the question for believers to ask is, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” (Acts 9:6; Revelation 14:4)
Thank God for such an enlightening and and awakening thought. May the Lord help us to see ourselves, think on these things and make our ncessary adjustments as we study from day to day.
The Lord's use of Ananias is something that interests me. When Saul asked Jesus, "Lord, what would you have me to do?", Saul was directed principally to this man, Ananias for guidance.
Ellen White makes the point that Ananias was "one of the very men whom Saul had hoped to take captive" (Early Writings p.200).
And it is not surprising that as Jesus was preparing Ananias, that "Ananias feared that there might be some mistake in this matter..." (ibid.) But his fears were quelled. He goes to find Saul, and greets him with the kind words, "Brother Saul..."! (9:17)
When I was young I thought there was something wrong with my experience with the LORD because I didn't have a Damascus Road conversion, I didn't have a witness of how I was rescued from darkness into His marvellous light. But now I realize that each one has a different experience with the LORD and like Elijah the LORD did not come to me in the wind, earthquake or the fire but in the still, small voice telling me this is the way walk ye in it, now 1 Peter 3:15 is my mission.
1Pe 3:15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear;
Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
1Ki 19:11-12 ... And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces before Jehovah. But Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. (12) And after the earthquake was a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire was a still, small voice.
Your comment is very pertinent to this discussion Shirley. We do not need to have a dramatic confrontational experience to be converted. God works differently with different people. I grew up in the church as a 3/4th generation Adventist. For me there have been challenges and "aha! moments" but it has been more of a growing developing experience rather than high drama. And to be quite frank, I would have probably been put off my a dramatic, emotional event. I like my Christian experience to be like a maths problem; one step at a time, each step logically following the previous step. And I don't pretend that everyone should have my experience either. God treats us as individuals!
Out of 41 Children from a Muslim family Jesus Choose me while I was still younger. It's so amazing. I love and adore him.
You are special, and it would seem that you are called by God to be a witness of His love to your Muslim family and friends. The real miracles will happen as you make it your business to know Him and to be a witness for Him to those you love. Good luck and Godspeed.
I love The Lord because He created me, loves me, hears my supplications, delivers me from my transgressions and is saving me moment by moment.
Pardon my zeal. The simple gospel message contained in your statement encourages me to believe that God is finishing the work He began in you. We are responsible to share this with others in so many ways. As partakers in His Divine nature through the promises contained in the Bible and through a revelation of His Spirit in all the world we are able to do all things. No excuses, just enablings.
I would say , my experience with Him was really rough but no matter what He always was there to pull me , all the promises i made with Him Still sought me out so that i could remember during good and bad times , and indeed he made it possible for me to be alive and well in strength and health today. After i was baptized i felt invigorating power and zeal and i wanted to the work of God but because i looked upon myself that i was not worthy or i don't know enough i felt like i wouldn't or couldn't do it , then i started to stray from the Him following friends and so .. going my own way .. i nearly could have died a few times well but Jesus really has been good to me and ohh HE continues to be good
I am convinced that knowledge is good but it is not what people need the most from us in our Christian witness. Being able to give a Bible study, teach a lesson, evangelize the neighborhood, or the entire world are all gifts from above which come as the result of sharing what you do have with others. What I have to share with others is a knowledge that God Himself loves me and would have sent His Son into the world to save even me, oh wretched man that I am. We don't need qualifications in order to share our experience with others. All we have to do is experience it ourselves and then give it away by sharing it with others, not so much in word and in speech but in our deeds and in our attitude of unconditional love which we have received from above. Hang in brother, God's is not short to save you, feel His presence now and know that He is with you always, even unto the end of the world.
I would say first of all, You have to get to know Jesus for yourself. the only way you can do that is through the help of the Holy Spirit. But that is only if you have a hearts desire to want to know him.
He is there an available for all of our wants needs question's confusion's mis guiding of the word and things that just don't seem right to us in life. The people were afraid of Paul and all he stood for when he was Saul. Just one word from Jesus Changed his entire life.
When Jesus wants you ,you don't have to have a Damascus experience .He can take you and change it all in your sleep.We've all had our own Damascus experience and some are going through it now.
The beautiful thing is that we obey when Jesus calls are names and allow the Holy Spirit to make the change in us .And when he does we can become better witness for Christ. The choice is ours. Chriist gives us all a choice to take him or leave him. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
The word Charity mentioned in the comments says it all for myself. If we do not have charity, 1 Cor. 13 charity we have nothing and are nothing. Charity is Christ and him crucified. Charity is love, that suffers long and is kind, vaunts not itself, you can have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries, speak in the tongues of angels but if you haven’t got Jesus, you are as a sounding brass and a clanging symbol. Hope is good, faith is important, but if you do not have the personal experience of knowing and maintaining your relationship with Jesus, you have nothing to share with the world that they do not already have. Central to all of our doctrine is the unconditional love of God, His character of love as expressed in His commandments. His non forceful Sovereign care over all the Universe and beyond is what we Christians ought to interpret to the world. I mean translate the message in a million, million ways and one of those ways is to gather yourselves at the foot of the cross where mercy and justice met. Translated, this same mind which is in Christ Jesus is ours through faith and we must believe it is the unmerited gift we received from the foundations of the world. Unity in this aspect of unconditional love and acceptance, I believe will change the face of all our outreach, and allow the work to be finished, the Holy Spirit will do its work in convicting and convincing, we need only forgive those who trespass against us as we also are forgiven, which is the motive for living the Christian life. That’s my take, take it or leave it.!
Every moment carries opportunity to criticize or to build up...notice the God of the Universe commands us to overcome the evil with good. He desires that you prosper and be in good health and also that you help others to do the same. Whatever your hand finds to do that is a part of this solution, God is working in us to do. Can you believe this unto salvation? Or will self step in and manipulate a failed mission? Letting go and letting God is probably the best little slogan left undiscovered by the majority. Rocks will cry out, if you don't, but what are the rocks going to say? Forgive and you shall be forgiven.
Paul’s experience does not prove that God speaks directly to you and me. In fact, his conversion proves the proposition that God speaks through human agency for the salvation of men and women — through the inspired scriptures and the preaching of their message. The Lord communicated the gospel requirements for Paul’s own salvation through Ananias.
I am not sure what you are saying? Are you saying that God does not speak to us directly when we are not converted? Once we are converted He can use us to reach others? Is that what you are saying? Whatever you believe is fine with me. I am not your judge but I will say for myself that I agree, unless a person is converted which is a process by which God eventually with permission takes over the soul, a person can do nothing lasting for Him.Even after conversion, it is God who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. That does not mean that He cannot use a person who is not converted to accomplish His
Divine purposes, He used a donkey. I believe that the entire Universe is under His Sovereign guide and that even Satan is playing an important role in God's desire to have us come to Him without fear trusting all of our existence to His providences.
The thought that God uses human agents to communicate to human beings is sensible.However, I cannot believe for a second that He does not want to or cannot speak directly to us.Communion with the Spirit of God is prayer. The earthly sanctuary shows us how we can come into the very presence of God through His eternal sacrifice and it is by the blood of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth that we have fellowship with Him who is Himself the Life of men.
Please can someone kindly explain to me why Saul changed his name to Paul, if there is a specific motif for changing his name and the meaning of both names!
Thank You in advance
The following is one perspective. I might add that my own name is Owen Clayton...I went by Owen growing up and about the time of my conversion I started using my middle name, why? I can't be sure, it was just a desire to do so.
Many mistakenly assume the Lord changed Saul's name to Paul sometime after Saul converted from Judaism to Christianity, which happened during his encounter with Christ on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19). Unlike the instance of Jesus changing Simon's name to Kepha (Gk. Petros) as a way of signifying the special role he would play in the Church (Mt 16:18, Jn 1:41-42), in Paul's case there was no name change.
Saul of Tarsus was born a Jew, "circumcised on the eight day, of the race of Israel, or the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee" (Phil 3:5). The Hebrew name given him by his parents was Saul, but, because his father was a Roman citizen (and therefore Saul inherited Roman citizenship), Saul also had the Latin name Paul (Acts 16:37, 22:25-28), the custom of dual names being common in those days. Since he grew up in a strict Pharisee environment, the name Saul was by far the more appropriate name to go by. But after his conversion Saul determined to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, so he dusted off his Roman name and became known as Paul, a name Gentiles were accustomed to.
I doubt that anyone could give a better explanation than Paul himself, perhaps one day in eternity you can ask him.