We first meet Saul during the murder of Stephen. While Saul took no active part in Stephen’s murder, he watched in approval as these Jewish leaders took off their coats, laid them at his feet, and stoned Stephen to death.
The stoning of Stephen marked the beginning of the great persecution of the Christians. This persecution was so great, that the Christians fled Jerusalem and went to Judea and Samaria. Notice in verse 8:4 that these Christians who were scattered went and preached the Good News wherever they went. They were fleeing from being persecuted because they of their belief in Jesus and still they preached.
I love the way God will take what men intend for evil and use it in mighty ways. Here these men were trying to stop this belief …show more content…
He had to be led to Damascus by the hand. God has a sense of irony that I just love. In order to open Saul’s eyes and let him see the truth he blinds him for three days. The Lord tells Ananias to “go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.” In this one verse there is so much evidence of the truth of the Bible.
The book of Acts was written between 60 and 64 AD by Luke so, at the time of the writing, there would have been hundreds of people who were alive at the time these events occurred who would have been able to dispute these events if they were inaccurate. Luke records not only the name of the street but the owner of the house where Saul was staying as well.
There is also evidence of the personal nature of our Lord. Notice that He tells Ananias that Saul was praying to Him right now. Think about this for a moment. Our Lord is talking to Ananias and is aware of Saul’s prayers, so much so that He tells Ananias about it.
Ananias balks at God’s instructions, telling God that this man is one of the ones who is persecuting Christians. But God tells Ananias that Saul is His chosen instrument to take His message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as the people of …show more content…
Paul was constantly aware of how great God is and how undeserving he of grace he really was.
There are dozens upon dozens of theories of what this “thorn” was. They range from a physical malady to a temptation to sin. I don’t know what it was. Whatever it was is not important. What is important is that it kept Paul focused on God.
Paul continues to tell us that he asked the Lord to take this “thorn” away but the Lord refused three times, telling him each time that “My grace is all you need, My power works best in weakness”. Wow! God is telling us that he knows we are weak and through our weakness He can do mighty works.
Now look to Romans 7 and 8. Paul is writing to the Church in Rome and had been preaching the Good News for about twenty years give or take a few. Paul had witnessed God awesome faithfulness and power. Paul was a faithful servant of God and yet he still struggled with temptation and sin.
He writes that he wants to do what is right but doesn’t and does not want to do what is wrong but he does anyway. Paul knows that man is prone to sin and that until Christ returns man will continue to be
The stoning of Stephen marked the beginning of the great persecution of the Christians. This persecution was so great, that the Christians fled Jerusalem and went to Judea and Samaria. Notice in verse 8:4 that these Christians who were scattered went and preached the Good News wherever they went. They were fleeing from being persecuted because they of their belief in Jesus and still they preached.
I love the way God will take what men intend for evil and use it in mighty ways. Here these men were trying to stop this belief …show more content…
He had to be led to Damascus by the hand. God has a sense of irony that I just love. In order to open Saul’s eyes and let him see the truth he blinds him for three days. The Lord tells Ananias to “go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.” In this one verse there is so much evidence of the truth of the Bible.
The book of Acts was written between 60 and 64 AD by Luke so, at the time of the writing, there would have been hundreds of people who were alive at the time these events occurred who would have been able to dispute these events if they were inaccurate. Luke records not only the name of the street but the owner of the house where Saul was staying as well.
There is also evidence of the personal nature of our Lord. Notice that He tells Ananias that Saul was praying to Him right now. Think about this for a moment. Our Lord is talking to Ananias and is aware of Saul’s prayers, so much so that He tells Ananias about it.
Ananias balks at God’s instructions, telling God that this man is one of the ones who is persecuting Christians. But God tells Ananias that Saul is His chosen instrument to take His message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as the people of …show more content…
Paul was constantly aware of how great God is and how undeserving he of grace he really was.
There are dozens upon dozens of theories of what this “thorn” was. They range from a physical malady to a temptation to sin. I don’t know what it was. Whatever it was is not important. What is important is that it kept Paul focused on God.
Paul continues to tell us that he asked the Lord to take this “thorn” away but the Lord refused three times, telling him each time that “My grace is all you need, My power works best in weakness”. Wow! God is telling us that he knows we are weak and through our weakness He can do mighty works.
Now look to Romans 7 and 8. Paul is writing to the Church in Rome and had been preaching the Good News for about twenty years give or take a few. Paul had witnessed God awesome faithfulness and power. Paul was a faithful servant of God and yet he still struggled with temptation and sin.
He writes that he wants to do what is right but doesn’t and does not want to do what is wrong but he does anyway. Paul knows that man is prone to sin and that until Christ returns man will continue to be