Saul

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Saul
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Saul of Tarsus

• The first glimpse we have of Saul is at the
  stoning of Stephen.
• (Acts 7 58-60)And cast him out of the city, and
  stoned him and the witnesses laid down their
  clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was
  Saul.  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God,
  and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  And
  he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice,
  Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when
  he had said this, he fell asleep.

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Persecution

• (Acts 81-3) And Saul was consenting unto his
  death. And at that time there was a great
  persecution against the church which was at
  Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad
  throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria,
  except the apostles.  And devout men carried
  Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation
  over him.  As for Saul, he made havock of the
  church, entering into every house, and haling men
  and women committed them to prison.

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Sauls Early Life

• (Acts 221-3)Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye
  my defence which I make now unto you.  (And when
  they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to
  them, they kept the more silence and he saith,)
    I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in
  Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this
  city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught
  according to the perfect manner of the law of the
  fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all
  are this day.

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Sauls Character

• (I Timothy 1 12-15) And I thank Christ Jesus our
  Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me
  faithful, putting me into the ministry  Who was
  before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and
  injurious but I obtained mercy, because I
  did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of
  our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and
  love which is in Christ Jesus.  This is a
  faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
  that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
  sinners of whom I am chief.

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Sauls Life Recap

• Sauls life previous to his conviction was a life
  of.......
• A persecutor
• An unbeliever
• Chief of Sinners
• He was a man that put christians to death
  thinking it was Gods Will.

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A Clean Conscience

• Everything he did he thought that he was doing
  Gods will.
• (Acts 231)And Paul, earnestly beholding the
  council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in
  all good conscience before God until this day.
• (Acts 2416)And herein do I exercise myself, to
  have always a conscience void of offence toward
  God, and toward men.

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On the Road

• (Acts 91-3)And Saul, yet breathing out
  threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
  of the Lord, went unto the high priest,  And
  desired of him letters to Damascus to the
  synagogues, that if he found any of this way,
  whether they were men or women, he might bring
  them bound unto Jerusalem.

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The Blindness

• (Acts 93-9) And as he journeyed, he came near
  Damascus and suddenly there shined round about
  him a light from heaven   And he fell to the
  earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
  Saul, why persecutest thou me?  And he said, Who
  art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
  whom thou persecutest it is hard for thee to
  kick against the pricks.   And he trembling and
  astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to
  do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
  into the city, and it shall be told thee what
  thou must do.   And the men which journeyed with
  him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing
  no man.   And Saul arose from the earth and when
  his eyes were opened, he saw no man but they led
  him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.  
  And he was three days without sight, and neither
  did eat nor drink.  

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Seeing the Truth

• God appears unto Ananias and tells him to go and
  visit Saul.
• (Acts 915-17) But the Lord said unto him, Go thy
  way for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear
  my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
  children of Israel   For I will shew him how
  great things he must suffer for my name's sake.  
  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the
  house and putting his hands on him said, Brother
  Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto
  thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me,
  that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be
  filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there
  fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he
  received sight forthwith, and arose, and was
  baptized.

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His Sufferings

• ( 2 Corinthians 11 23-28) Are they ministers of
  Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more in labours
  more abundant, in stripes above measure, in
  prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.  Of the
  Jews five times received I forty stripes save
  one.   Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I
  stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and
  a day I have been in the deep   In journeyings
  often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
  in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by
  the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
  the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
  among false brethren   In weariness and
  painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and
  thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
    Beside those things that are without, that
  which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the
  churches.

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Pauls Impact

• When we look back through Pauls life after his
  conversion, he went about teaching Christ
  everywhere.
• Paul is responsible for writing the majority of
  the New Testament.

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Pauls Writings

• Romans
• 1 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 2 Thessalonians
• 1 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon

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Conclusion

• We looked at Sauls life and the things that he
  did to the early church. Even after the killings
  and beatings of christians, God still loved him.
  
• God called Paul a chosen vessel.
• God still loves and accepts us, no matter what we
  did in the past!!!
• God thinks of us as a chosen vessel. He will
  forgive us no matter what we did in the past.