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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Paul, Peerless Apostle and Prophet (1 of 15)
Focus Text: Isaiah 66.10-14
His name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. He loved his work and his love was evidenced by the passion that he poured into it; every ounce of his strength was thrown into doing what he deemed was right. Apathy and lukewarmness were not in his vocabulary. In addition to his passion for action, Saul also was absolutely and positively committed to maintaining a clear conscience; he not only had a “sense of ought,” he was totally given over to practicing what he preached.” Perhaps these two traits ― Saul’s passion for whatever he set his hand to do and his overarching dedication to doing what he perceived as right ― figured into God’s plans to use him in spreading the gospel of Christ. Whatever the reasons, God certainly intended to use Saul and use him He did!
Concerning Saul’s absolute intent to do what he perceived as right, his actions at the stoning of Stephen set the stage for his course of action as a persecutor of Christians. Paul obviously believed Jesus to be anything but Messiah and was more than willing to demonstrate his convictions by his actions. When Stephen raised the unbridled anger of a group of unbelieving Jews, the result was Stephen’s death, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7.1-60). Almost as an incidental detail, Luke the inspired historian adds, “And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7.58). How old was Saul when this occurred? We don’t know exactly but it is significant that he was “a young man.” Some have paraphrased scripture with a true proverb, namely, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” Saul was bent toward being a full-fledged opponent of the cross and his career as a zealot was but a follow up to his earlier beliefs.
As time went on, the church grew even more rapidly due to the persecutions that were taking place in Jerusalem. Those who were scattered abroad by the persecutions “…went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8.4). Rather than eradicating this new doctrine, the persecutions proved only to scatter the gospel message much as the achenes of a dandelion are scattered by a stiff puff of wind. Rather than discouraging new converts as perhaps had been thought, the blood of the martyrs only served to encourage other honest hearts to carefully consider the message of Messiah. Philip the evangelist went down to Samaria and there sparked a revival among the previously unbelieving Samaritans. Subsequently a man from Ethiopia heard and obeyed the gospel before returning as an enthusiastic missionary to his own country.
And as for Saul, he simply doubled his efforts by “…breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” (Acts 9.1a). So devoted was Saul to this task that he “…went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way [believers], whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9.1b-2). Zeal literally propelled Saul to oppose the saints with every fiber of his being!
Right or wrong, we have to admire zeal; it speaks of someone on a compelling mission – SAUL!
Questions:
1. Where was Tarsus, home of Saul?
2. Who or what was the council before whom Stephen appeared?
3. What effect did the persecutions have on the spread of the gospel?
4. From Acts 9.1-2, how would you characterize Saul’s zeal? Did he believe he was doing right by arresting believing men and women and bringing them back to Jerusalem for trial?
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