Acts 13:20-22 - “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.  Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.  After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” 

continue

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?”  Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” - Acts 9:3-6

We know Paul better than any character in the New Testament besides Jesus.  The book of Acts chronicles his conversion and missionary journeys.  We have more letters from him than any other Apostle, giving us a complete picture of his message, his struggles and victories, and his inner motivations.  God’s Word gives us Paul as an example to follow (Philippians 3:17).  No other man was as influential in shaping the doctrine of Christianity and establishing churches all around the civilized world of his day.  Paul was without question the most productive pastor in his generation, even if other were more famous as preachers or miracle-workers.   continue

Acts 2:47 - “ …praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”    

The faithful church devotes itself in two directions – upward and outward.  “Upward” refers to our devotion and sacrifice for the Lord, and includes our praise, worship, prayers, thanksgiving, and even our obedience to his commands.  The upward devotion must be in first place – otherwise the outward devotion starts to infringe on it. 

continue

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” - Acts 2:41-42

continue

Acts 13:2-3 - ”While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” - Acts 14:23

continue

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

“But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”  - Matthew 3:11

There is much more to the baptism in the Holy Spirit than just power to be witnesses – that is but one small part of it. In places where the Lord’s servants work together as a Body, we see more of the emphasis given to the Holy Spirit’s work in integrating new lives into the Body of Christ, giving closer communion with the Lord, and sanctifying us through and through. On the other hand, when Christians act more like a “movement,” rather than a Body, often the focus is exclusively on the “power to be witnesses.”   continue

Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” 

Church historians usually date the death of Paul at the year 68 or 69, during Nero’s main phase of persecution against the Christians. This assumes that Paul obtained an acquittal from the charges pending against him at the end of the book of Acts, and that he made one or two subsequent missionary journeys.  Early historical writings suggest that Paul died (beheaded by the Romans) in the city of Rome, and today there is a large Catholic church supposedly built on top of Paul’s tomb.  The earliest historical writings about the death of the Apostle Paul, however, are from hundreds of years later.  No one from his generation wrote a biography of the Apostle Paul describing his death.   continue

Acts 26:19 - “I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”

What set Paul apart from many other Christian ministers was this: when the Lord corrected him, he immediately repented and became obedient to God’s revelation.  We see this at his conversion (Acts 9), when he changed in a single moment from a man who persecuted the Lord Jesus to one who obeyed Him as God.  This willingness to obey the revelation of the Lord was a crucial factor in his conversion, and was a trait throughout his apostolic ministry.  The Lord made him one of the most fruitful preachers in the history of the church.  The amazing fruit of his ministry came because of Paul’s zeal to obey the Lord’s revelation.   continue

1 Thessalonians 2:9 - “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.”  

Acts 20:33-35 - “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.  In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak.”  

Paul knew that many religious leaders in his day saw their ministry as a way to get financial gain.  (1 Timothy 6:5).  This is often a bad testimony for the gospel.  Paul wanted to reach the lost, and unbelievers are naturally suspicious that preachers just want their money.  He made a decision that many of his peers rejected – as do most preachers today.  Paul did not depend on tithes or offerings for his income.  He worked hard at manual labor – so that he would not have to get money from the people whom he converted.  He left behind his emerging career as a Jewish Rabbi, which would have given him social prestige, pride, influence in the community, and good income.   continue

Acts 28:2-5 - The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.  Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects..,

Acts 28 records a story about the Apostle Paul being shipwrecked on the Island of Malta.  There is a prophetic meaning for us today behind the literal story itself.

continue