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Printer Friendly VersionPaul lived his life in conflict. He was battered and stalked
by the Jews as well as delivered by them to Gentile courts. He was controversial
in the church – often he was not accepted as an Apostle. He wrote to
the church in Corinthians: 11:21 “Are they ministers of Christ? I am
talking like a madman-- I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more
imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times
I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was
beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked;
for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger
from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles,
danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false
brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night,
hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other
things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.”
In this setting he served his God, driven by the visions and the Word. The
risen Christ had become Paul’s life and Paul had become Christ’s.
I. Setting
Wherever Paul was found he turned the situation into a testimony
of his Lord. Today we find him arrested in the midst of mob action. With his
life in peril, he is still centered in that which concerns his life. Even
in this setting, he will give witness to the revelation (epiphany) that has
transformed his life. What occurred to him in his transforming conversion
and call into apostolic service is the theme of his life. Every conversation
finds its way back to the moment he saw God while being made blind to the
things of this world.
First, let’s ask ourselves about how God discloses himself to us. Trusting
not in our own opinions, let’s look at scriptures:
II. The God of Christianity Speaks
A. The Christian movement begins in God
1. He had a faith like ours in his mind when he spoke the worlds
into being.
2. God speaks and we must deal with his Word
B. God exists in infinity as the word
1. John 1:1 Originally, the Word existed - the Word existed
oriented to God - the Word was God.
a) Creation was inaugurated in God’s expression
b) God is the one who gives his Word
c) The Word is God disclosing his being to us
C. Then the Word came to the prophets in their own setting.
1. Genesis 15:1 The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision,
"Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very
great."
2. The same God who formerly spoke in prophets has now come
in his Son
a) Hebrews 1:1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to
our fathers by the prophets;
b) Hebrews 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by
a Son, whom he ordained the heir of everything, through whom also he created
the world.
D. The Word comes in stages:
1. First the Word is spoken
a) After God speaks we must trust it to be fulfilled
b) The word of God must be fulfilled.
(1) Isaiah 55:10 “For as the rain and the snow come down
from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth
and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word
be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it
shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which
I sent it.”
(2) Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away.
2. The word is then written:
a) But all was from God – God given and breathed -
b) 2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy ever came from human initiative.
When people spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them.
E. Christ became the absolute revelation in a new form
1. 2 Corinthians 4:6 The God who said, "Let light shine
out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
a) All truth is tested in him
b) He gives truth but he is more than that for he is truth
c) He is truth – THE truth.
2. Everything Jesus spoke and was - was in harmony with scriptures
a) This two-fold harmony was the basis of the church’s
faith
b) John 2:22 after he was raised from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the
word that Jesus had spoken.
F. This revelation was then passed on to his church.
1. It begins in all of us as a revelation of the Lord:
2. Galatians 1:15-16 When he who set me apart before I was born
called me through his grace to reveal his Son within me, so that I might preach
him among the Gentiles...
a) Notice the use of grace
b) Pay attention to the place of revelation
c) See what (who) is being revealed!
III. The Response to His Word
A. Paul was able to claim:
1. Acts 26:19 So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient
to the heavenly vision,
a) HIS WORD from infinity was first spoken to the fathers …
b) Then in the midst of the people of Jesus’ hour –
from Galilee to Jerusalem
c) And in our text to Paul – the one born untimely (out
of sequence)
2. This same word was present as Jesus and now entrusted to
the Apostles and their selected elders.
a) John 6:63 It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is
of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
b) John 16:4 I have said these things to you, that when their
hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. "I did not say these
things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.”
B. Paul was the recipient of many revelations in the Word.
1. The Arresting One: Acts 9:3
a) Acts 9:3 Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and
suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.
b) Which changes all of his life.
c) And remolded - transformed his concept of God
2. The Ongoing Revelations: Acts 9:12
a) Beginning in a vision of Ananias
b) To a revelation of Christ in Gentiles.
(1) A revelation that is the mystery hidden for ages
(2) An epiphany that is found in Christ
(3) 1 Timothy 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery
of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen
by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up
in glory.
C. Insights from God Left Paul Accountable.
1. To this vision Paul became chained
2. Confessing himself to be “bought with a price”
a) Are you gripped by God’s act in your life?
b) Luke 12:48 every one to whom much is given, of him will much
be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.
D. Paul confesses that this revelation was given to him –
as a man
1. A human with human weakness
2. A person of the flesh
a) In this present world
b) With all the human limitations
c) 2 Corinthians 12:7 To keep me from being unduly elated by
the magnificence of my revelations, I was given a thorn in the flesh - Satan’s
angel to resist me - to keep me from being too conceited! … I will all
the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me.
3. What God gives can become Satan’s opportunity!
4. This great truth is meant to make us more dependent
a) The Word humbles the true servant
b) With the insight comes the responsibility
IV. His Word Comes to Us – Even if Not Perceived.
A. Paul’s obedience reminds us that God’s Word may
be rejected
1. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 We thank God constantly for this - when
you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at
work in you believers.
2. It comes wrapped in a person
3. It comes to us individually
B. We can twist God’s Word and lie in God’s name
1. Those we damage will remain harmed
2. We can never recover the misuse of the Word
C. We are accountable for the light we might have had
1. We must not neglect the new insight we have received
2. 1 John 1:7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son
cleanses us from all sin.
a) The issue is: “How much light has God given you –
me?”
b) Walking in his light is the key to fellowship
D. Here is the work of God for us and in us
1. Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept my word of patient
endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole
world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
2. Paul was faithful – and so must we be
V. Conclusion: HIS WORD IS OBLIGATORY.
A. Psalm 89:34 I will not violate my covenant, or alter the
word that went forth from my lips.
1. Like saints of every age we must allow the revelation to
form us
2. We, like Mary, must surrender to the Word