Epistles of Paul 01

Alright, good evening, brethren. We are now today starting with a new series on Paul and, or rather, the Epistles of Paul. Paul wrote 14 Epistles, and we will be doing a little introduction on his life, and then we will take a little bit through an overview of his first missionary trip, till the beginning of the second, and then from there we will then bring in when he wrote his first epistle, as we understand, which was the Epistle to Thessalonians. So we're starting with that sequence. So let's see how far we can go today. And as we know, Jesus called and chose twelve apostles. He trained them for three and a half years, and the focus during that initial part was, as Christ said, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. So his focus during his mission was to go to the Israelite-ish people, specifically starting with the Jews.

And so we therefore know that Paul was not one of the original twelve apostles. So when was Paul then converted to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, or in other words, when was he set apart for this role? So let's start with Galatians chapter 1 verse 15 and 16. Galatians chapter 1 verse 16 and 15 and 16.

Galatians 1 verse 15 and 16. It says, But 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 do not immediately confer with flesh and blood.

In these two verses, Paul says a number of very interesting things.

In first place, he was, when God pleased God, he then called Him, but He had already selected Him and sanctified Him for that purpose from His mother's womb.

Now that's very interesting. I want to take a little side tour on this point, because it actually means that He was selected right in the beginning. He was selected.

And so, and that was in His mother's womb.

Now that brings an interesting question to people in this world, because when does life begin?

Well, He was already selected by God while He was stolen in His mother's womb.

And that is very similar to what happened to Jeremiah and to John the Baptist. I want to focus on those two releases.

Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5.

Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5.

And there we read, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Now that is pretty early before the baby is actually formed in the womb in that early stage.

God already knew him, Jeremiah. Before you were born, I sanctified you. Very similar to what Paul said.

I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

So that again shows very interesting understanding before birth.

Now, let's see the example of John the Baptist in Luke 1 verse 15. Luke 1 verse 15.

And as we understand in the Church, God's Holy Spirit works with the spirit of man in man and the two join and work together.

And so it means that He had the spirit of man in man, and therefore God's Holy Spirit worked with the spirit of man in man. And He had God's Holy Spirit from His mother's womb before He was born.

There's another interesting structure, which is Ecclesiastes 11 verse 5.

Ecclesiastes 11 verse 5.

In the New King James Version, that's what I'm reading from, it reads, As you do not know what is the way of the wind, and in my Bible's God, a little number, which then on the margin says, O Spirit, because the Hebrew word is Ruvach, which means spirit or wind, can be translated both.

And so we see that as we read, as you do not know what is the way of the Spirit, as it could read, which spirit is the spirit of man in man?

Or, but the word or is in italics, right? Which means not in the original. So, as you do not know what is the way of the Spirit, how the bounds will grow, is in italic, how the bounds in the womb of her, who is of child.

And as we read verse, it kind of appears a bit confusing, but I read, if you read the English standard version, it's got an interesting way of translating this section of the verse.

It says, as you do not know the way the Spirit comes to the bounds in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

So that is a possible translation to this verse. So we do not know how God's spirit, I beg your pardon, we do not know how the spirit of man in man gets into that baby in the womb. We don't know, but it does, from what we can see, it does appear that the spirit of man in man is already in that embryo or grown baby in the womb. So that goes well with what we read about Jeremiah and about Paul being sanctified in the womb and John the Baptist already having God's Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb.

There's a few other Bible commentaries about Ecclesiastes 11.1 that I want to make reference to. Matthew Paul reads a commentary about this verse, says, of the spirit, and it says also, but we know it's actually referring about the spirit of man, of the spirit of man, how it first comes into the body of the child in the womb, whether from God by creation or from the parents by propagation or how it is united with and so fixed in the body that it cannot get out of it when it would. So the spirit of man is right there in a man or how and whether it goes out of the body or all things a great mystery.

We don't know how God's Holy Spirit, how the spirit of man first connects with that baby in the womb. We know when a person dies, the spirit returns to God. That's what it says. So it must have come from God, obviously, because God is a creator somehow, and God saves it, stores it until the resurrection.

And then at the resurrection, that spirit of man is enlightened with a new body, and then he becomes a living being again. That's what we read in Ezekiel 37 in the Valley of Dry Bones. So that is an interesting commentary there by Matthew Poole. And I pulled out Jameson, Fawcett and Brown commentary.

And it says how the soul in italics, so a better statement would be the spirit of man, and it makes the body. He says that's the transition to the formation of the body in the womb is more natural. So he's actually also saying, hey, the spirit of man goes to that baby in the womb.

That basically when we read Galatians 1 about all being sacrificed in the womb, when we read Jeremiah 1 verse 5, that he was also known by God in the womb and was sanctified in the womb. And we read Luke 1.15 that John the Baptist not only had the spirit of man, but he had the spirit of God working with the spirit of man already in the womb. So that is very significant. Then when we read, I read also John Gilles' Expository, and it says, As in many things in nature, we are and should be content to be ignorant of them and leave them to God, who brings them about by his secret power and providence.

In other words, we don't know how this works. And you and I can dig and dig and never find out how it works because our mind, physical mind, is limited. And then he continues, It translates how the spirit of the breath of life goes into the body of an infant. So the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Old Testament translates this Ecclesiastes 11.5 how the spirit of the breath of life goes into the body of an infant.

Where it is by production as some, which is not likely, or by transfusion, or by creation out of nothing, or by formation out of something pre-existing and by an immediate infusion of it, or what is the way of the breath of the breath of a child in the womb, whether it breathes or not, if it does, how? If not, how does it live in the womb? So it is a miracle that we don't understand. But putting these scriptures together, the important point is that the spirit of man is already in the baby in the womb.

And that's why we read other scriptures, like in the law, where there are two men fighting, and there is a woman in the middle, and she is pregnant, and then if the baby dies, the baby in the womb dies, it says, life for life. And that's with the session, it says, life for life, hand for hand, eye for an eye, tooth for the tooth, etc.

So it's basically life for life. So the death of that unborn baby is considered murder in that scripture in the Old Testament. So I just deviated that a bit because that is interesting for us to consider. Anyway, let's continue with Paul. And we saw that he was set apart right in the womb.

He was sanctified in the womb for this specific job. So how was he trained for this job? How was he specifically trained for the job? Well, let's look first at Acts 22. Acts 22. Verse 25 through 28. Acts 22. Verse 25 through 28. And it really says that he was first born as a Roman citizen. And therefore, he was very knowledgeable of Roman laws and Roman government. He says, you know, he's a Roman and this man is a Roman and he's asked by the commander, are you a Roman?

Yes, he is. So he's a Roman citizen. But he was trained and taught by Gamaliel. He was, therefore, a devout Pharisee. If you look at Acts 22. Verse 3. He says, I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in the city at the feet of Gamaliel. So you were trained by this, let's call it top-notch teacher of the Pharisee school. So he was taught, he was very well educated.

And then we read in Philippians chapter 3 that he was a Benjaminite. So let's go to Philippians chapter 3 verse 5 and 6. And he says circumcised on the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law of Pharisee. So he was a Benjaminite. He was of the same nation or tribe that the first king of Israel was, which was also Benjaminite.

He was also Saul. And then we have in Acts chapter 9 verse 11. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called strait and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. So he was a man from Tarsus. Tarsus in southern Turkey was known to be an educational and commercial center.

So we can see that God chose this person sanctified that went through a very stringent training program, well knowledgeable in Roman law, well knowledgeable in Jewish principles. And he was purebred Benjaminite. So he was well educated.

But we do know that he persecuted Christians. If we look at Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7, 57 through chapter 7, 57 through 58. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped the years and ran a team with one accord, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. So it's talking about Stephen the martyr.

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. That's the spirit of man in man, but which was merged with God's only spirit at that time. And then he knelt down and cried out of a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. So Yahweh see Stephen was stoned to death and Saul, which became Paul, consented to his death.

We can see that in chapter 8 verse 1. Now Saul was consenting to his death. And then we read in verse 3 of chapter 8, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. So he was a very, let's call it, dedicated man to what he believed, although he was going in the wrong direction.

But he was a very committed man. Look at chapter 9, verse 1 and 2. Chapter 9, verse 1 and 2, then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, who went to the high priest. So Yahweh see Saul breathing threats and murder. So and therefore he asked letters from him to the synagogues and the Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way with the men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So we see he was clearly persecuting true Christians. Then we read a little bit further in Acts 26, Acts 26, verse 9 through 11, Acts 26, verse 9 through 11.

He said, indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Those are also dead in Jerusalem. And many of the saints are shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them and I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. So we can see Paul really was against Christians and not only that, he tried to destroy God's church.

As we read in Galatians chapter 1, verse 13 through 14, for you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

So we can see he was a very committed man, but to the wrong purpose. But he was convinced that was the right thing to do. Then Christ made him aware that he was doing wrong. We read that in Acts chapter 9. That is his conversion about four years after Christ's death. So that is about 35 A.D. Acts chapter 9, verse 3 to 6. Acts chapter 9, verse 3 to 6. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

And then he fell to the ground and heard a voice to him saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, who you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the ghost. So, yeah, we see that that he then repented because he says, so he, verse 6, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Complete repentance. At that moment, he realized he was completely going the wrong way. And so we see as well that therefore he was called for a very important commission. Now, quite often we focus on his commission to the Gentiles.

We read still in chapter 9, verse 15 and 16. And the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine, to bear my name before the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.

You can see he had a three-fold commission. And we know towards the end of his three missionary troops, then he went to kings. And then he was freed for a while. And that of that time period after that, probably for a very short period, we don't hear much. But from what we see, he went, based on the scripture, he went to the children of Israel. So he had a three-fold commission. Now, who taught Paul the Gospel? So he was not taught during those three and a half years. He had that vision. How was he taught the Gospel? Let's go to Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians chapter 1. Let's look at verse 11 and 12. Galatians chapter 1 verse 11 and 12. But I make known to you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it from man, of course.

But it came from the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, he was taught by Christ himself. If we just briefly keep a finger there, because we're going to come back to the section in Galatians chapter 1. But I just want to draw your attention to Acts 26 verse 16, which we were there a moment ago. Acts 26 verse 16. And he says, but, you know, this is when he said, let's start reading from verse 25. So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And verse 16 says, but rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness, both of the kings which you've seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

It's interesting that the King James Version, the English Standard Version, says, translate that, I will yet reveal to you as I will appear to you again. You know, I will appear the second time. So, so he was taught by Christ. Now let's go back to Galatians chapter 1, where we completed a moment ago, reading verse 12. Let's now read verse 15 through 18. And it says, but when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, which you read that a little while ago, and then in verse 17, nor did I, he says, I did not, at the end of verse 16, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.

It was not with man. So he didn't get the instruction from man. But he says, nor did I go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. So he didn't learn it from man. He did not go to Jerusalem to get it from the apostles. But I went to Arabia.

And then returned to Damascus. So he went to Arabia, probably for three years. And during that period, he was very proudly taught by Christ himself during that period. Now, how did God then start opening the door to be preached to the Gentiles? Because really, as we'll see a little later, Paul did not have a credibility with the church because he had been persecuting the church.

So God had to start the work to the Gentiles through one of the most trusted apostles, and that was Peter. And as we read in Acts chapter 10, we got that famous example of that dream. Acts chapter 10, verse 1. And now there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion. And then a little later we read in verse 11. And he says, then Aoiia is Peter's vision that he had, and I saw heaven open, and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners descending to him and led down to the earth.

And then he says, and in it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, birds of the air. And a voice came to him, said, Rise, be with you in it. But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I've never eaten anything common or untrained.

And a voice spoke to him again. A second time said, What God has cleansed you must not call unclean. So we know that he puzzled because this was done three times. You read that in verse 16. And so in verse 17, So while Peter wondered to himself what this vision meant, you see, he didn't eat unclean foods. And this did not tell him to eat unclean foods. He just pondered what this meant. Then a little later, we know that he meets the family of Cornelius. And then we see in verse 28, Then he said to them, You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.

But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. He now understood what that vision meant. And that vision meant that he should not call other people common or unclean. And so we then read in verse 34. And then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. In the word, God is the same God for Jews and Gentiles. But in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him.

So we can see God now started opening the door to the Gentiles. And he did that through Peter, not through Paul. Because Paul basically had no credibility with the church, as far as that was concerned. So verse 44, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnified God.

In other words, they were all come. There is a family that come from Italy. They're wearing that area. And probably Cornelius knew how to speak their language, but the other members of the family probably didn't. And so now we could see and they all could hear what they all were talking, even though in different languages they all could understand.

And that was that miracle of speaking in different languages. And therefore he said, can we forbid them to be baptized? And so he baptized them in the name of, that is by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we can see that the Gospel to the Gentiles started going through Peter, not through Paul, even though Paul was the one that was heavily used to actually then take it to the Gentiles. So look also in Acts 11 verse 18. Acts 11 verse 18. At the end of it, it says, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.

So God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. All right, so now we move a little bit forward to the first missionary trip, which is run apart from the year 45 to 47 AD. So we're talking now about after Christ's death, 31 to 35. So it's about 14 to another 17 years after Christ's death. That was the first missionary trip, which basically I could call it a trip to the area of Galatia.

And we see that trip in Acts 13. In Acts 13, 1 to 5, he sees now the church was an Antioch. There were certain prophets and teachers. And Barnabas Simon was also called Aja, Lucius, and Cyrene, Mannerhem, who had been brought with Herod, Teitrach, and Saul. And they ministered to the Lord and fasted. And the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to meet Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them.

Then having fasted and prayed and lay hands on them, they sent him away. So Yahweh had been sent on that first missionary. They were ordained as ministers and they were sent on that missionary trip. So we have Barnabas, Saul, and also John Mark, because we read in verse 5, he says, And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.

They also had John as their assistant. So John Mark was there as well. Now we can see that Barnabas and Saul, the two names are mentioned, Barnabas first and then Saul, which means at that time Barnabas was probably seen as a lead. And we also see in verse 7 Barnabas and Saul. But then we see an event that changed and then from Yah onwards, Paul is now called Paul, is mentioned first. So that's from the moment of this situation that Paul became the leader. That we read in chapter 13, verse 6 through 12. You see, they got to this island, to Pathos, and there they found a false prophet whose name was Lord Jesus.

So I want to share with you a little screen here for a brief moment. And Yah, you can see, they left from Antioch. Antioch there became like the center or the base where Paul would depart. And then he went on his first journey to the island of Cyprus and then he got Yah to that place, Pathos.

You can see from there, he went into the area of Galatia and then he came back and then he went back to Antioch. So that was basically his first trip. All right. So while he was there in the island of Cyprus, there with that individual, which is the sorcerer, we read that in verse 8. He was the sorcerer, for so his name is translated.

So Paul at that moment took a lead and from that moment, and then we read in verse 13. Now when Paul and his party. So Paul now is mentioned as a lead of that team in that missionary trip. And then in that trip, he then started focusing on the Gentiles. So obviously we know he first went to the synagogues. So let's look at Acts 13 verse 38.

So he's actually talking about justification. It is important for us to understand it is an issue of justification. In other words, being made just, being made at one, just with God of justification, being reconciled to God. So it's through Christ. It's not through the ceremonial law of Moses. Why? Because the ceremonial law of Moses was purely a teacher to point to the real sacrifice, which is Christ. So he says that mankind is justified through Christ. So we are not justified by the law of Moses, by the ceremonial law, by the law of sacrifices. But we are justified by Christ. So that's how that situation got the Jews upset. Let's look at it a little bit further, and we read Yah in verse 42. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles bid that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. So Yahweh can see they were keeping the Sabbath. Jews and Gentiles were keeping the Sabbath. And this was already quite a number of years after Christ's death. So they were keeping the Sabbath. And now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and the vout-proselites followed Paul and Barnumas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue the grace of God. And then on verse 44, on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. So there was a crowd, really. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy.

And contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. So Yahweh can see the problem was envy. This desire of power, of control, and they were envious because now Paul, in their mind, had this power. And so they opposed. That's how it started. And look at verse 46. Paul and Barnumas grew bold and said, it was necessary the word of God should be spoken to you first.

Reject that you are Jews. But since you reject God's word, understanding that we are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, not by offering physical sacrifices.

We are justified by the true sacrifice which Christ did for us because he had complete faith in the Father that the Father would resurrect him. And so the faith of Christ is what justifies us. In words, the blood of Christ is what justifies us because Christ gave his life, his blood, because he trusted 100% that the Father would resurrect him. So he had that absolute trust, that absolute faith that the Father would resurrect him. And because of that faith of Jesus Christ, we have the blood of Christ that accounts us, that forgives us, that washes our sons away.

And so it says, continue reading, it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, wow, that's a powerful statement. Behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

So this is how Paul started teaching and focusing on the Gentiles.

So this became a big issue because as this first missionary trip ended, as this missionary trip ended, we can see the missionary trip ended in Chapter 14, Roundabout, Verse 26 and 28, from there we sailed to Antioch, where they had been commanded by the Grace of God for the work which they had completed.

So let me share again this map with you. So they went back to Antioch, they sailed back to Antioch because this was, let's call it, the home base where the missionary trips started from.

So they went back, that was the end of the first missionary trip.

So continue reading. And it says, Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

So they stayed there for a long time, moved to the south, maybe for a year, maybe for two. And then what do we have?

Is the Jerusalem Conference in AD 49. So we have this issue that starts developing because this became a big issue because those people that became followers of Christ, that came from the Jewish background, brought with them the baggage of their belief.

It's important for us to understand that in the early New Testament church, there were basically two problems.

Initially, those that had been of the Jewish faith and became Christians, they then wanted to bring those ceremonies, those ceremonial laws back into a requirement.

Understand, the Jews still were killing lambs. They did that until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

And therefore, they had this belief, we've got to do this. But they wanted the Gentiles to do it.

And they felt that those physical sacrifices of goats and bulls and lambs was what made them just before God, in addition to Christ.

But you require that. That was kind of their baggage they brought.

And that became a challenge because this, and we read that in the letter of the Galatians and others, that issue had to be addressed, saying you're not justified by that ceremonial law.

That ceremonial law was added because of transgressions. We read that in Galatians 3.19, if I remember correctly.

So that became one of the big issues in early New Testament Church.

Later on, as more Gentiles came into the Church, the other big issue that developed into the Church was the Gentiles bringing their baggage into the Church and bringing their pagan beliefs and saying, Oh, well, therefore Christ is forgiving and merciful. Therefore, we can just do these things.

And so there were those two extremes. One, people coming to the Church, bringing their baggage from the Jewish background, and the other was people coming into the Church, bringing their baggage from the pagan background.

And that became like a challenge to the early Church on both sides.

So at this moment, then we have the Jerusalem Conference of Acts 15.

And this is where we're going to stop today with this study.

And next week, we'll continue from this point onwards.