Join us in this enlightening episode where Pastor Skip Heitzig delves deep into the transformative journey of the Apostle Paul. From his proud pedigree and staunch adherence to religious law, Paul transitioned into a fearless proponent of Christianity. Discover how an encounter on the road to Damascus changed everything, shifting Paul’s path from persecution to proclamation. Unpack the layers of Paul’s impactful conversion and subsequent dedication to spreading the gospel across the globe.
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SPEAKER 01 :
When Paul gave his pedigree to the Philippian church, In Philippians chapter 3, when he looks back over his life and talks about all of the reasons he has to boast. Remember that? He says, if any man can boast, I can too. And he starts talking about his background. He says that he was born of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. That is, he didn’t convert people. to Judaism, he was born into it with Hebrew parents. He spoke Hebrew, he knew Hebrew, he was born into the tribe of Benjamin by very devout parents. And then he says this, concerning the law, I was a Pharisee. So Paul’s background before he became Paul, when he was still Saul of Tarsus, he was a Pharisee. I know that when you hear the word Pharisee, you and I both, because we know the Gospels and we know that Jesus didn’t speak highly of the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites. He called them whitewashed tombs. So usually when you hear the word Pharisee, you think, oh, those are the bad guys. But actually, they didn’t start out that way. They started out as the good guys. Josephus says they were the leading sect of In Judaism, the most influential of the leadership group, they devoted themselves to studying the law, knowing the scripture, applying it to the people, teaching the nation. The word Pharisee means separated, parashim, separated ones. They wanted to be separated from the influences of the world, separated totally unto God and serving God. So they started out well. They didn’t end as well as they started. They did get wonky. They did become hypocritical. They were whitewashed sepulchers. They deserved their comeuppance from Jesus, and they got it. But Paul was of that group. He was highly esteemed as a Jewish leader. When he left Tarsus of Cilicia, his hometown, and he came to Jerusalem, he sat at the feet of a very esteemed rabbi named Gamaliel. As we covered a couple of weeks ago, we made note of that. Gamaliel was regarded as being the beauty of the law, so much so that when he died, the Jews said to one another that the glory of the law has ceased from Israel. Gamaliel, though, was very anti- Christian, and he wrote a prayer against the heretics, heretics meaning the Christians. And so it’s fascinating that Paul, who was a disciple of Gamaliel, becomes a Christian, becomes what his mentor would call a heretic, totally devoted to the gospel, totally devoted to taking that gospel from Jerusalem to different parts of the world, including Galatia. In that little background of Philippians chapter three that I was making reference to where Paul gives his background, a Pharisee concerning the law. I was a Pharisee, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He says, he keeps going and he says, concerning, listen to this part, concerning righteousness, which comes from the law, I was blameless. That’s quite a boast. He’s saying, as far as I can tell in my own conscience, I kept the law of God. Even though Paul will say nobody can keep all of the law, and he’ll tell you the one particular area he struggles with. This is in the book of Romans, so I’m not going to get back into that. But it’s quite a statement to say concerning the righteousness which comes from the law, I was blameless. Now this is why… Religious people are sometimes, usually, the hardest people to reach with the gospel. Religious people, by nature, don’t see their need. Immoral, flagrant sinners who go out and just sin to the max. If somebody says, you’re a sinner, they would say, I know. I know before anybody else knows. I got that part. No question about that. They can identify their need. Religious people hide behind their religion, their religiosity, their good works. And so Paul required a strong arm from the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation. And he got it on the road to Damascus. And he makes mention of that in chapter one when he speaks in verse 15 and 16, when it pleased God who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles. I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. So he was stubborn. Jesus grabbed attention of his heart by knocking him off his beast on the way to Damascus. He saw a vision. He heard a voice. He responded to that. He was blinded for a few days, went to Damascus. All of that was enough to convert him. But before that, highly religious, not understanding his need for a Savior, believing that those who trusted in the Savior were errant, were cultic, needed to be stopped, needed to be arrested, was on the way to Damascus to do that. That was Paul. That was Saul of Tarsus. He had enough morality to keep him out of trouble, but not enough righteousness to get him into heaven. because he was trusting his own righteousness. And that’s why when he writes to the Philippians, he says that, he says, but all those things that were in my column, my pedigree column of good traits, all those things that I counted as gain, I now count as loss, that I might know him and the fellowship of his sufferings, the power of his resurrection being conformed to his death. So it was a radical change that he went through. Now, we just read chapter 1, verse 15 and 16. I think that’s a reference to his radical conversion. And, by the way, those people who want to dismiss Christianity as a fairy tale and these things, you know, everybody makes their own little religious system up. Anybody who would disparage Christianity, they have to deal with, at some point, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Explain how a guy like that could have the experience that he had and be so totally changed for the rest of his life to the point where he was willing to get his head chopped off. And people have sought to explain his conversion. A French atheist by the name of Renan says, well, he was probably suffering a high fever and a guilty conscience and he saw a hallucination. He hallucinated because of it. Another explanation is that a thunderstorm happened at a particular moment that knocked him off his horse. He imagined that the thunder was the voice of God. And the most typical explanation for the conversion of Saul of Tarsus into Paul the Apostle, believe it or not, is epilepsy. That he had an epileptic seizure. And I love what Charles Haddon Spurgeon says about that. He says, oh, blessed epilepsy, if it affects a conversion like that. Give more people epilepsy, Lord. So he was totally, radically changed. But he says in verse 16, I’ll give you the timeline. I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter. So the chronology is, and I’ll show you in Acts 9 in a moment, he gets saved on the road to Damascus, goes to Damascus, is too hot to handle. He goes from Damascus to Jerusalem, No, he goes from Damascus to Arabia for three years. After being three years in Arabia, as we mentioned last time, goes back to Damascus, gets persecuted in Damascus, let over the wall in a basket, and goes to Jerusalem for 15 days, just a couple of weeks, confers with the apostles. Then he goes back to his hometown of Tarsus in Cilicia, as the rest of chapter 1 informs us. And then eventually he is called up by a good friend he met in Jerusalem by the name of Barnabas. But holding that thought, go back with me to Acts chapter 9 for just a moment so you can sort of piece these elements, these chronological elements together. So Saul, that is Paul, is in Damascus. He’s just had that encounter on the Damascus road. In Acts 9, verse 20, immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues. that he is the son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. When you give to this ministry, you help reach thousands of people every day with God’s life-changing truth, encouraging them to know Him, trust Him, and walk in His freedom. And this month, we want to thank you with a special resource package. You’ll receive Skip’s book, Biography of God, which helps you explore God’s nature, His power, the mystery of the Trinity, and the hope that comes from removing the false limitations we sometimes place on Him. Plus, you’ll get Skip’s six-message CD series, Expound Galatians, where Skip unpacks the book of Galatians and the freedom believers have through grace, not works. Your gift today helps bring the life-changing message of Jesus to people around the world through Connect with Skip. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com slash offer today. or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here’s more from Pastor Skip.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, after many days were passed, that phrase, after many days, I believe equals about a thousand days, three years. That’s when he went to Arabia before he came back to Damascus. Now, after many days were passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. So he goes to Arabia, is there in the area of Mount Sinai where the law was given to Moses. There Paul sifted through all that he knew about the law of Moses and understood grace as Jesus taught him one-on-one. Now he’s ready. He comes back. He’s on fire in Damascus. But the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. This is a garbage basket where they would take the garbage out. They’d lower it over the wall. So, I mean, he became a real basket case. In a good way. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, this is what he mentioned in Acts chapter one. When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. You can understand why. He’s been on a mandate to go up to Damascus and find those who call in the name of Jesus and round them up and arrest him and bring him back. Now he shows up back in Jerusalem. They know his reputation. He was there when Stephen died. He was consenting to his death. They see him running around town with a New Testament in his hand saying, God bless you, praise God. They don’t believe it. They think, oh man, this guy’s, you know, it’s a sham. They didn’t believe that he was a disciple, but here it is. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, the Damascus road. and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with him at Jerusalem, coming and going out, and he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, the Greek-speaking Jews, but they attempted to kill him. So wherever he goes, they try to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Then the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. So Saul goes after three years to Damascus, three years to Arabia, back to Damascus, preaches, goes over the wall in a basket, comes to Jerusalem, too hot to handle in Jerusalem. They put him on a boat in Caesarea, ship him back home. He stays home for between five and seven years. until Barnabas calls for him. And he’ll mention this. He’ll mention that Barnabas was a friend to him even here in this chapter, but let’s keep going. So chapter one, verse 18, we’re still getting that chronology together. After three years, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter, remained with him 15 days, but I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary in physical union, James, who was the head of the church in Jerusalem. Now concerning the things which I write to you indeed before God, I do not lie. Afterwards, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. That’s back home where he’s from. I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. Now when… Paul goes back to his hometown of Tarsus in Cilicia. He probably took up a secular job. He was a tent maker, and I don’t mean that metaphorically. I meant that literally. That’s where we get the metaphor from, Paul’s literal tent making. He was a skenapios. That’s the Greek term. That is somebody who works with the hair of goats, wool, black silicium, it’s called black wool, and leather hides and works them together to make tents. That was his job. His dad was a tent maker. He was also a tent maker. He went back home, made tents, and he waited and he waited and he prayed and he waited. You know, he has seen so much. He has been in Damascus, boldly proclaiming, showing Jewish people, proving that Jesus is the Christ, going to Jerusalem, boldly, powerfully speaking, and now he’s doing nothing. And this is important. Sometimes God has to let us marinate and get the sauces deep into our core before we’re ready. And I love the book of Zechariah. There’s a great passage of scripture where the prophet gets a vision and the vision is of a menorah. You know what a menorah is? A seven branch candlestick that was in the temple. The tops of it have little oil lamps. So he sees in a vision this menorah with the seven oil lamps on top. Above in the vision, he sees this beautiful golden bowl filled with oil and a spout going to each of the seven oil lamps. On each side of the bowl are two olive trees with a pipe going from the olive trees to the bowl and then the little pipes to the lampstand. So it was like an automated lampstand. It’s all automated. And the prophet says, what is this? And the Lord says, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. It’s not by might, it’s not by power, but it’s by my spirit, says the Lord. And then he says, you are not to despise the days of small things, small beginnings. You see, they were there in Jerusalem rebuilding the temple and the people were getting discouraged. They laid the foundation, but they remembered how glorious it was in Solomon’s day. And they said, this isn’t much of a start. This is a horrible look at it. We don’t have much money. We don’t have much progress. And the Lord encouraged them and said, it’s not by your might. It’s not by your power. It’s by my spirit. These things are going to get done. Don’t despise the days of small things, small beginnings. It’s a good word for us. We want to rush God. We want God to use us now. God, don’t you know how awesome I am? I’m smart. I’m awesome. I’m articulate. I have a beautiful voice. You should use me. He wants you to marinate. Steep a little while. Let the juices cook in. Get flavorful. And if God calls you into the ministry, great. But it will take that kind of time to sustain you in your ministry. A lot of people start in the ministry and they fizzle out. It’s not easy. And what will sustain you is the preparation that God gives you. So don’t despise the days of small things. God knows what he’s doing. So I love this. They didn’t know my face. They wouldn’t recognize me if I walked down the street. I was unknown visually to them. But, verse 23, they were hearing only, he who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God in me. I mean, at the very least, they’re saying, praise God, he’s not going to kill us. He’s a changed man. Don’t you love to see somebody radically saved like that? You look at somebody, I’m sure everybody said, he’s the last guy that would accept Christ. Of all the people that won’t accept Christ, he gets the award in the high school annual least likely to be saved. His picture would be there. And here he is, the chief antagonist is now the chief protagonist. of the faith, and they glorified God in me.” So we have the chronology. Saved on the road to Damascus, there for a few days. The blindness is, he recovers from that, he preaches. He’s bold in affirming that Jesus is the Christ. He then goes three years into the desert, silent years, is taught grace, taught the gospel, truth by the Lord, preparing him to write Romans, Galatians, and all the rest. goes back to Damascus, gets let down over the wall, goes to Jerusalem, goes back home, and he waits. Now look at chapter 2, verse 1. Then, after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Titus with me. Now, there’s a little bit of a debate, and I don’t care about the debate, honestly, about the 14-year mark. Was it 14 years from his conversion? Was it 14 years from his first coming to Jerusalem, which make it 17 years after his conversion? And I have found that commentaries, commentators love to fight about this and assert their position, and I don’t care. At some point, he went up to Jerusalem, probably 14 years after his conversion. After 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. That’s that beautiful man and took Titus with me. Do you know who Barnabas was? You know, his name wasn’t originally Barnabas. His name was Joe. Right, you know that, Joseph or Joseph. But they called him son of encouragement or son of consolation. His nickname, Barnabas, means son of consolation because he was so encouraging. He encouraged the church financially. He was the one who encouraged Paul and stood by him and offered the right hand of fellowship to him and vouched for him to the apostles. No, no, no, this guy’s real, man. He got converted. He’s a changed man. He’s the one that stood up for him. So get the picture. Saul has been waiting where? What’s his hometown? Tarsus in Cilicia. He’s been waiting there. So in Tarsus, there’s a man waiting. In Antioch of Syria, there’s a man, Barnabas, thinking. The man in Tarsus is waiting. He’s gotten a call from Jesus on the Damascus Road years before that said that he would bear the name of Jesus before the Jewish people, before kings, and before Gentiles. So he’s kind of twiddling his thumb, making tents, going, okay, I got a call from God. How come nobody’s contacting me from Jerusalem? Been a long time. So we have a man waiting in Tarsus. In Antioch of Syria, there’s a man thinking, Barnabas. God has done a work up north in Syria, up in Antioch, and he thinks, hmm, Antioch, you know, we’re a very Gentile, but also Jewish, but also Roman town. Who would be the best person to reach these people? Ah, I remember that Saul Paul guy. He’d be excellent. So it was Barnabas who sent for Saul to leave Tarsus and come to Antioch. And that’s where his ministry began, not Jerusalem.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God’s Word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your support by sending you a special resource bundle, Skip’s book, Biography of God, along with his Six Message CD series, Expound Galatians. Together, these resources help you explore who God really is and how to live in the spiritual freedom He offers. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip.
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Make a connection Make a connection at the foot of the crossing
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Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
