SAUL CALLED PAUL


A. "AND HE FELL TO THE EARTH, AND HEARD A VOICE SAYING UNTO HIM, SAUL, SAUL, WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME? AND HE SAID, WHO ART THOU, LORD? AND THE SAID, I AM JESUS WHOM THOU PERSECUTEST; IT IS HARD FOR THEE TO KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS. AND HE TREMBLING AND ASTONISHED SAID, LORD WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?" - ACTS 9:1-6
  1. The story of Saul called Paul is comprehensive:
    1. It covers a major portion of the Book of Acts - Acts 8; 9 to 28
    2. It includes his fourteen Epistles, a most precious legacy to the cause of Christ and His church
  2. One has difficulty to summarize some of the high points of his useful life
B. HERE IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THIS ENERGETIC, COMMANDING, MASTERFUL MAN, WHO WITHOUT DOUBT, IS ONE OF THE GREATEST BIBLE CHARACTERS AND NOT OF THE BIBLE ONLY, BUT OF HISTORY
  1. His historic background:
    1. He was a native of Tarsus, and his father was a Roman; a fact significant in Paul's labors - Acts 21:39; 22:3; 25; 25:16
    2. He was a Pharisee by birth, son of a Pharisee, by belief also - Acts 23:5-6; Phil. 3:5
    3. He had the strictest religious training - Phil. 3:5; Deut. 6:4-9; 20-25; received a good education - Acts 22:3; learned a trade in his youth which came in handy to him in his ministry - I Cor. 4:12; I Thes. 2:9; 2 Thes. 3:8
    4. He was a persecutor of Christians seeking to excess - Acts 8; 9
  2. He experienced a marvelous transformation:
    1. He became a new creature on the way to Damascus; an experience he loved to repeat often - Acts 22; 26;9-22
    2. Spent a number of years in Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, Syria and Cilicia in solitude and training for his useful ministry
    3. He could say, "I labored more abundantly than they all" - I Cor. 15:10
  3. He organized churches in his travels and wrote his fourteen epistles that truly constitute the Magna Carta to Bible Christians - Gal. 1:8-9; 2 Peter 3:16-17
  4. He, a former persecutor of Christ, died gallantly in his old age for Jesus Christ, whom he loved more than life itself - Acts. 21:13; Gal. 6:17; 2 Cor. 11; 2 Tim. 4:6-8
C. SOME PRAYERFUL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE RICH AND USEFUL LIFE OF THE MAN SAUL CALLED PAUL
  1. He was a dedicated man:
    1. Zealous toward God - right or wrong - Acts 22:3; Gal. 1:14
    2. Sincerely believing the traditions of his fathers until a special revelation from Jesus Christ changed him - Gal. 1:14
  2. Can we, who claim to be God's servants called to proclaim the everlasting gospel be less zealous:
    1. How can anyone of us be at ease in Zion while precious souls, for whom Christ died perish in sin - Amos 6:3; Luke 12:19; Matt. 24:48
    2. Do we feel as Paul did when he said, "Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel" - I Cor. 9:16
  3. He was a man of prayer:
    1. Wrote he to the Ephesians, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"
    2. He admonished the Thessalonians, "Pray without ceasing" - I Thes. 5:17; he did this day and night - Col. 1:9; 2 Thes. 1:11
  4. He evidently had bodily infirmities from which the Lord would not set him free though he sought the Lord to free him:
    1. To him Christ said, "My grace is sufficient for thee" - 2 Cor. 12:9
    2. Though God blessed him to lay hands on the sick and heal them
  5. Finally, he could look back upon his ministry and write to Timothy:
    1. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" - 2 Tim. 4:7
    2. What a life that must ever be that ends in glorious triumph of faithfulness to the very end


Design © John Bryant 2011