Can God use Me

Saul the persecutor of the church

Saul was his Hebrew name

Acts 13:9 NASB95

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

Paul himself suggests, he was a Jew in terms of his circumcision, Benjaminite lineage, Hebrew ancestry, and Pharisaic training ().[1]

Philippians 3:5 NASB95

circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

Romans 7:24 NASB95

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Romans 7 NASB95

Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

The three periods of Paul’s life

Paul was Somebody

Hometown Tarsus

Born about the same time as Jesus.

()

Acts 23:6 NASB95

But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

Philippians 3:2–6 NASB95

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.[2]

Paul had personal knowledge of Jesus during his earthly ministry. Hengel goes so far as to assert that it is almost probable that the young Saul even witnessed Jesus’ death.[3]

Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen[4]

Training

The councils Paul served on

Sanhedrin, and became the active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then sought to exterminate Christianity.[8]

Acts 8:3 NASB95

But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Saul was educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.[10]

Acts 22:4–5 NASB95

“I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

5 as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.[11]

What he was doing before his acts 9 experience

Saul a zealous man who actually thought he was doing God a service by persecuting the church.[12]

If you would have asked him about Jesus of Nazareth here is what he may have said.

Do you expect me to believe that a crucified nobody is the promised Messiah? According to our Law, anybody who is hung on a tree is cursed []. Would God take a cursed false prophet and make him the Messiah? No![13]

No! His followers are preaching that Jesus is both alive and doing miracles through them. But their power comes from Satan, not God. This is a dangerous sect, and I intend to eliminate it before it destroys our historic Jewish faith!”[14]

Paul the Persecutor

Acts 7:51–53 NASB95

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stephen preaches before the religious leaders

52 “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”[15]

The response of the religious leaders

Acts 7:54–60 NASB95

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

Paul was at the stoning of Stephen

Acts 8:1–3 NASB95

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.

3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.[16]

The Burning Bush that changed Saul’s Life and direction

Paul the Nobody

:1-3

Paul on the road to Damascus to round up more Jewish members of the “Way” Christians

Paul traveled the 150 miles from Jerusalem to Damascus armed with legal authority to hunt down Jewish Christians [17]

Saul was going to have a divine meeting with Jesus Christ

How long you stay in the nobody land is up to you.

Moses stayed hiding behind the Mountain 40 years

Jacob stayed 20 years under the hand of Laban

The burning bush time in Saul’s life

God calls Saul to join Him in the Ministry

This was Saul’s “burning bush” time with the Word of the Lord.

While On the road to hunt down the Christ followers

To have the burning bush experience your position will change.

Saul fell to the ground.

Having a meeting with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus was alive.

Have you ever been wrong?

What did God say to Saul?

Acts 9:4 NASB95

and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Saul’s response to the Lord

Acts 26:15–18 NASB95

“And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Saul could have had his men take him home.

HE said yes to the Lord that he had been so add mint that Jesus was dead.

Saul the angry bull () had now become a docile lamb! The leader had to be led because the vision had left him blind[18]

Paul the Servant

Acts 26:16–18 NASB95

‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

How did God use Paul?

Three Missionary Journeys

1. A.D. 47-49 to Roman Province of Asia ()

Wrote these books during this time: 1&2 thes

2. A.D. 50-53 churches founded in Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, and Corinth. The Thessalonian letters were written during this period[19]

1&2 Corin; Romans

3. A.D. 53-57 centered on a long stay in Ephesus, from where he wrote 1 Corinthians. During a sweep through Macedonia he wrote 2 Corinthians. At the end of this time, awaiting departure for Jerusalem, he wrote Romans from Corinth [20]

4. Jerusalem was followed quickly by arrest and a two-year imprisonment in Caesarea Maritima. Thereafter he was shipped to Rome on appeal to the imperial court of Nero. There (see ) he apparently wrote his so-called prison letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. [21]

5. Paul’s death at about a.d. 67 under the deranged oversight of Nero[22]

Paul would be the preacher to the gentiles

The persecutor would become the missionary

Philippians 3:12 NASB95

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Paul’s conversion was never the focal point of his preaching—he preached Christ, not his personal experience

2 Corinthians 4:5 NASB95

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

Philippians 3:13–14 NASB95

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.[26]

God used Paul to have a big impacted on us today

The Bible that you hold Paul wrote 13 books of the New testament

14 if he wrote Hebrews

[1] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 590.

[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[3] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[4] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

[5] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

[6] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

[7] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

[8] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

[9] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 438.

[10] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[11] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[12] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 438.

[13] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 438.

[14] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 438.

[15] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[16] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[17] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[18] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 439.

[19] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[20] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[21] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[22] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[23] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[24] Robert W. Yarbrough, “Paul the Apostle,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 591.

[25] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

[26] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .