Scriptures: Acts 9 v 1 - 22.
Verse 1: "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord...."
Verse 20: "And straightaway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God."
Saul of Tarsus was totally and utterly against Christianity and the Lord's disciples. He stood by and watched as the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned to death. In this passage he is making death threats to those who were of "this way" and obtained permission to travel to Damascus to arrest Christians.
As he came near to Damascus a heavenly light shone around him and he fell to the ground. That Light was Jesus who asked Saul why he was persecuting Him. Saul trembled before Him and instantly submitted to Jesus saying, Lord what do You want me to do? Jesus told him to go into Damascus and he would receive further instructions.
Saul was blinded by the Light and his fellow-travellers, who had seen the Light of Jesus but heard nothing, led him to the city. In Damascus, at about this time, the disciple Ananias had a vision wherein the Lord called his name and he said, I am here Lord. Jesus told him to go to Saul giving him the name and address of where he was staying. Jesus had also given Saul a vision of Ananias praying for him to receive his sight.
Ananias asked the Lord to confirm his mission as he knew that Saul had authority to arrest Christians. Jesus reassured him saying, Saul is a chosen vessel of Mine and will take the gospel message to the Gentiles (non-Jews). So Ananias obeyed and Saul received his sight and was baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Saul (the name means Destroyer) became Paul, meaning Worker, immediately began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God but many were still afraid and wanted to kill him.
He was smuggled out of Damascus and spent 3 years in the wilderness where Jesus taught him the truth about the Law v Grace; the life lived in the Spirit v fleshly lusts. These revelations turned this learned former enemy into a powerhouse for the Lord.
When did you have your Damascus Road awakening? Jesus has a plan for everyone. Paul had no clue that his determination to arrest Christians would be so powerfully and convincingly interrupted by God Himself. The Pharisee was humbled and his religious pride forever broken.
At a crossroads in my journey I was given Acts 22 v 10 after asking the Lord which way I should go. It read: "And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do."
It was not to Damascus but to a prayer meeting before dawn that I went, and the pastor gave me verses 14-15 of Acts 22 to my great surprise. Great surprise as he was constantly criticizing me.
Acts 22 v 14 - 15: "And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard."
Every one of the messages on this blog or other media, is an outworking of those two verses in my life. I am eternally grateful to Him for the very great privilege it is to call Him Lord and Redeemer and to pour out my life for others to know Him in the fullest way.
Paul did it because he knew Jesus intimately. I do it because I would not exchange one moment of my life in Christ for any material thing in this world. At the end of his life Paul said, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection."
He was looking toward to this time when that resurrection power would be fully manifested; when the vision of the Bride of Christ and the Ransom paid for her would be made known; when the greater works would be done. He knew the end would come after the Rapture with the glorious return of Jesus Christ to this Earth to rescue Israel from destruction in the Battle of Armageddon. There is a great movie on the Rapture starring Nicholas Cage called "Left Behind". It's advertised as sci-fi but its real!
Paul was one of only three people who knew the truth about the Bride. All three were told not to speak of it, to seal up the words till the end times. The other two were Daniel and John.
Daniel 12 v 4 - 9: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."
Verse 7. The Man clothed in linen was the Son of God announcing the second half of the Great Tribulation, called the Wrath of the Lamb. A time, times, half a time is three and a half years.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 4: "It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." He was talking about himself.
John - Revelation 10 v 1 - 4: "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not."
John had an experience when receiving these revelations that there was a taste of honey in his mouth and his tummy was made bitter. The exact same thing happened to me! I was also told to seal the words until the end. Only my prayer group knew the whole revelation until the 1990's when I was allowed to share it more freely.
The fact that I even had this revelation tells us that the end is very near and the urgency in my heart is for Christians not to be complacent but to actively allow the Holy Spirit to use them as He wills to bring as many unsaved souls into the Kingdom of God. He has to see unity in His Body before it can be Raptured. There is still too much division through many false doctrines in the Church.
Paul was a great witness against Christians following the Jewish Law. He even had strong words with Peter because he was not warning even the Jewish converts to move beyond the Law into the power of the Holy Spirit. Today many thousands of Christians are reverting to Judaism not realising that they are denying Jesus. There are many other deviations from the path of truth that are part of the Apostasy. Be not deceived.
Prayer: Heavenly Father it is so important that we have a conversion in our hearts rather than mental assent to Your reality. I pray that every person on Earth will have an opportunity to know You and to believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. You alone can take our broken souls and shattered minds and make them beautiful for You. In Jesus' name. Amen.