Paul's Conversion4 [Acts 9:1-9] / Paul's Bible Characters

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Paul's Conversion4

 [Acts 9:1-9]

 

/ Paul's Bible Characters 

 

/ By Paul

1. Personal information

-'Paul' was called ''

(the little one), and his real name

was 'Saul', meaning 'to

pray to the LORD'.

 

-He was

from the tribe of Benjamin,

was born in Tarsus of Cilicia,

and born a Roman citizen.

(Act. 22 : 28) 

 

-He was a member of the

Pharisees, from an upper

 

-class family, and was educated

under the scholar of the time,

Gameliel. (Act. 22 : 3)

 

-He converted from Judaism

to Christianity after meeting

Jesus on his way to Damascus.

(Act. 9 : 18) 

 

-He was a tentmaker and

had conducted  evangelism tours

three times as a single person.

(Act 18 : 3) 

 

-His sister lived in Jerusalem

and escaped the crisis in Jerusalem

with the help of his nephew.

(Act. 23 : 16)

 

-He was a person who had

many signs of Christ, and had

physical diseases with his

external and internal pains.

(2 Co.12 : 7)

 

-He is the main author of the Bible,

which recorded 13 books

of the New Testament.

 

51 A.D. : 

  1 Thessalonians and

 

  2 Thessalonians

55 A.D. : 1 Corinthians

56 A.D. : 2 Corinthians, 

   Galatians                

 

57 A.D. : Romans

61 A.D. : Ephesians

62 A.D. : Philemon

 

63 A.D. : Colossians, 

   Philippians 

 

65 A.D. : 1 Timothy

66 A.D. : Titus

67 A.D. : 2 Timothy

 

2. Major Life

 

It was said that Paul's parents

had moved from  of Galilee to

Tarsus of Cilicia, Asia Minor

around 4 B.C.

 

At that time, in Rome,

it was a time when

'Roman citizenship'

 

was granted to many people

in the late republican politics,

so his family easily received

citizenship.

 

It seemed that

'Paul' was born in 1 A.D. 

 

Until the age of 30, he was raised

under a thorough Jewish education.

 

-He took the lead in full-scale

persecution of Christians

by participating in 'the scene

of Stephen's martyrdom'.

 

Then,

around the age of 34 (34 A.D.),

after meeting the Lord near

Damascus on his journey,

 

he was baptized by 'Ananias'

and converted to Christianity.

 

He went into the   'Arabian Desert'

and stayed there for three years,

and he had a one-on-one

fellowship with the Lord.

 

After that, he went back to

his hometown and stayed there.

 

In 44 A.D. (his age 44), after receiving

a visit from Barnabas, he went to

the Antioch Church with him and 

taught the gospel together there.

 

Three years later, under the 

direction of the Holy Spirit,

around 47 A.D. (his age 47),

 

the first evangelism  tour was

set out, and he departed with

Barnabas and Mark.

 

During their first evangelism

tour, because Mark gave it up

halfway, Paul had a quarrel

with Barnabas.

 

And they separated from

each other, In 49 A.D.,

 

Paul left for the second

 evangelism tour with Silas.

 

During this period, with the

strong guidance of the Holy Spirit,

the ministry of evangelism was

expanded from outside Asia

Minor to Philippi in Europe.

 

After completing three years of ministry,

he returned to Jerusalem around 52 A.D.,

 

reporting to the church, he went back

to Antioch of Suria to prepare for

the third evangelism ministry.

 

In 53 A.D., he conducted the 

3rd evangelism tour centering 

on Asia and Ephesus,

 

and after completing his ministry

until 57 A.D, he was arrested

while visiting Jerusalem.

 

He was

sent to Caesarea in 58 A.D.,

and stayed in confinement

for two years,

 

and then was sent

to Rome and he was

imprisoned until 62 A.D. 

 

In 63 A.D., he was released

and ministered again, and lastly,

he wrote 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

 

During Nero's persecution,

he was beheaded and martyred.

 

The areas of Paul's evangelism

tours (A.D.47-A.D.57) :

 

1st tour : 

Antioch- Cyprus- Derbe-Attalia- Antioch 

(Acts 13:1-14:28)

 

2nd tour : 

Suria- Cilicia- Phrygia- Galatia-

Macedonia- Philippi- Thessalonica

- Berea- Athens- Corinth-Ephesus- Antioch

(Acts 15: 41 – 18: 22)

 

3rd tour : 

Galatia- Phrygia-Ephesus-

the seven churches in

the province of Asia 

 

(Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,

Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia

and Laodicea)

 

- Macedonia-Greece-Troas-

Miletus-Tyre- Caesarea Jerusalem

(Acts 18: 23 – 21: 17)

 

3. The peculiarities that Paul

experienced during his ministry

 

When we live a life of faith, it means

that we live a life of walking

with the Lord.

 

When we meet the Lord,

our lives get changed, miracles 

take place, and eventually we

 live a life that fulfills God's will.

 

Unfortunately, however,

it is a pity that the experience

of God's working that was

revealed to the apostles

 

or saints of the early churches

rarely appears in our

religious life today.

 

Today's figure, the apostle Paul,

lived the life of the most intimate

companionship with the resurrected

Jesus than anyone else,

 

and is a person of great faith who 

established the kingdom of God

while living in the fulfillment

of the Lord's will, performing

numerous miracles and wonders.

 

How could he have

been chosen by the Lord?

 

Furthermore, how was he able

to live a powerful life of faith?

 

I hope that through his life of faith,

we can walk with the Lord and receive

the same grace so that we can

live a more powerful life in Christ. 

 

There were three groundbreaking

events of faith in the life

of the apostle Paul.

 

First, the experience of meeting

the Lord on the way to Damascus.

 

second, the experience of being

caught up to the Third Heavens,

and third, experience of

 

overcoming the pain of thorns

in his body through grace.

 

1. The experience of meeting

the Lord on his way to Damascus

opened his spiritual eyes.

 

The eye is an organ

given for its discovery role.

 

Therefore, depending on the type

and performance of the eyes,

 

we can discover more worlds that

we do not know, and participate

in that world to experience and 

enjoy all that God has made,

and live a blessed life.

 

However, there are two types

of eyes: the general eyes

and the spiritual eyes.

 

The eyes of life can expand

our scope with our efforts.

 

Spiritual eyes can only be opened

only when the Holy Spirit opens them,

and can only be opened through

the Lord's special grace.

 

1) The Lord opens spiritual

eyes to his chosen ones.

 

It is important that we first become

the chosen ones of the Lord so that

we may have spiritual eyes.

 

"But the Lord said to Ananias,

"Go! This man is my chosen

instrument to carry my name

before the Gentiles and their kings

and before the people of Israel."

          (Act 9:15)

 

It is because of his loyal heart

and perfect character that the

apostle  Paul became the

predestined chosen

one of the Lord.

 

"My eyes will be on the faithful

in the land, that they may dwell

with me; he whose walk is

blameless will minister to me."

          (Psa 101 : 6)

 

2) We can know the spirit world

when our spiritual eyes are opened.

 

If we can understand the

resurrection and ascension,

heaven and hell, or revelation,

through the eyes of faith,

 

we can see and hear the

working of the spirit world

directly through our spiritual eyes.

 

When the apostle Paul met

Jesus, he saw a strong light,

 

heard a clear voice, and had

the experience of meeting the

resurrected Jesus. 

 

In this way, in the life of faith,

we can lead a spiritual life of faith

only when the reality of the spirit

is confirmed through experience

in the eyes of faith.

 

And it is the purpose and

direction of our life that the Lord

has planned for us to realize

when we experience it.

 

For example, the Lord led

the Apostle Paul into a life of

light for the gospel ministry

of the Gentiles.

 

2. Through the experience

of going to the third heaven,

he came to live a life of

owning heaven.

 

The scripture Corinthians

12: 2 says as below.

 

'I know a man in Christ who

fourteen years ago was caught 

up to the third heaven.

 

Whether it was in the body

or out of the body I do not

know--God knows.'

 

-'The kingdom of heaven'

refers to' a place where the will

of God is fully implemented'.

 

In other words, it means that

everything promised in

the Scriptures,

 

for example, the living water,

the tree of life, eternal life,

strength, spiritual body,

resurrection, the bride,

the heir,

 

and the wedding

supper of the Lamb are

realities in the heaven. 

 

The word 'heaven' means

'paradise' in Persian, which refers

to 'a garden surrounded by a wall'.

 

It is said that when the king

wanted to give special benefits

to a person he valued, he had

the garden equipped with

the best facilities, 

 

and the king let him be there

and had a wonderful time

there together.

 

As recorded in the Bible,

Paul was the only person

who had been to heaven,

 

to which the dead can go,

by participating in the

sufferings of the Lord. 

 

This is an example of showing

that a person who owns heaven

in his heart is truly a Christian.

 

He was caught up to paradise

and heard inexpressible things.

 

We may guess that they were

God's plan and judgment for

the end of God,

 

the New Jerusalem, the New

Heaven, the New People, and so on.

 

In addition, 'things that man

is not permitted to tell' may

refer to amazing phenomena

such as ecstasy, enormousness,

 

and shining glory and fullness

that cannot be expressed in

 human language expressions,

 

as well as the dwelling

housings of the saints.

 

Therefore, if the 'Garden of Eden'

was the 'shadow of heaven,'

 

we may guess that 'Paul'

experienced greater

 realities than 'Adam'.

 

So, imagine what the feeling

of Paul was, who had such

an amazing experience that

he would not envy Adam 

and Eve's life at all ?

 

He must have felt a joy

that we cannot imagine.

 

3. Paul came to live a life in

which the pain of thorns shows

power through grace.

 

9. But he said to me,

"My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made

perfect in weakness."

 

Therefore, I will boast all the

more gladly about my

weaknesses,

 

so that Christ's powe

r may rest on me.

 

In many cases, the ability

we speak of means strength,

but actually it means  having the

grace to cope with any situation.

 

And when that grace is compared

to the sufferings Jesus had,

the power that the Lord

overcame is as much as grace.

 

-If 'the apostle Paul's

thorn' was to give him pain,

 

-'Jesus was wearing the crown

of thorns until death, who had

to endure the pain of a greater

stab caused with the same thorn.

 

In this way, the pain Jesus

personally was whipped for us

has conquered our disease,

 

his pain on the cross has conquered

our death, and the agony before

walking the way of the cross has

conquered the troubles of our lives. 

 

The apostle Paul's great life of faith

was, in short, a life of loving

the Lord to death.

 

The reason is that Jesus gave

forgiveness and mission to

Paul who persecuted him.

 

13. "I am ready not only to be bound,

but also to die in Jerusalem for

the name of the Lord Jesus."

 

 

In Paul's heart, the real image

of Jesus in heaven must have

been engraved in his heart.

 

He would have wanted to meet

the Lord who was waiting for

him as soon as possible.

 

He believed that the way to get

to him quickly is to quickly

accomplish the salvation of 

the souls entrusted to him.

 

When his neck was cut off on

a Roman guillotine, and when

his head bounced three times,

 

he would have died with Stephen's

martyrdom in his heart.

 

Love is completed with payment. 

Now, like the “Apostle Paul,”

 

we also have a “debt of love”

to the Lord that must be

completed while living

on this earth.

 

How many debts

are left to the Lord?

 

 

-The End-

 

 

2009/01/02

 

/ By Paul