PAUL IN HIS EPISTLES
Third in a series by the late Dr. Henry Grube

Paul Was a Man of Contrasts

INTRODUCTION : Consider these facts: Born a Roman, he lived a Jew.- A Pharisee, he preached to Gentiles. Once ritualistic, he became an enemy of ceremony. He lived under The Law, but taught Grace. Blamelessly righteous, yet he called himself the chief of sinners. He preached peace, but stirred up riots. He persecuted Christians, and then later built churches for them to worship in. Saul, the sinner, became Paul the preacher. He died in Rome but he lives in Heaven.

IN LIKE MANNER, God and the Gospel of Christ can change your life. One thing is certain….Paul supercedes Moses and out ranks the Disciples.

PAUL IN DAMASCUS : Immediately following his conversion, he began witnessing for Christ, in the city at the entrance of which he had found the Lord. He preached The Deity, The Messiahship of Christ. His message of The Mystery of The Body of Christ was revealed to him later. The Jewish leaders were first Astonished at his change, then they became Argumentative, and then Abusive. (Acts 9 )

PAUL IN ARABIA : How long was Paul in Arabia, we do not know__ but then he returned to Damascus for a period of three years, and we do not know what he did during this time, ( Galatians 1 ). We may suppose that the three year period has a distinct meaning. In our own opinion, we believe it illustrates this truth :

Just as the 12 Disciples were with the Lord Jesus three years ON EARTH,
so The Apostle Paul sat at the feet of the Lord Jesus for three years after he ascended into Heaven.
The Disciples learned from the Man of Galilee…
Paul learned from the Lord of Glory.
One thing is certain: his message was by revelation, not by repetition.

PAUL IN JERUSALEM : The Disciples were afraid of him, and the Jews in general, were angry with him (Acts 9) His ministry was to begin and end with persecution. Misunderstood by friends, and maligned by foes. Such is the history of all of God's leaders.

PAUL IN ANTIOCH : (acts 11) There is no record of his ministry in his home town. The Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

In studying the early ministry of Paul, remember these basic truths :
Paul was to be the minister of THE GENTILES, Acts 9, 22:21, etc.
The message of the Mystery of The Body of Christ was gradually revealed to him. Not all at one time, but over a course of years.
His ministry has a changing program. (Acts 13:46, 18:6, 28:28 ).

Failure to distinguish between the ministry and calling of Peter, and the ministry and calling of Paul, will result in a failure to understand the theme of The Book of Acts.
THE PRACTICAL POINT of this lesson should be that God has a specific ministry for you, which no other person can fill. The job may be done, and God's program will not be retarded because of your failure, but God's permissive will and God's perfect will are distinctly taught in The Scriptures; and the tragedy of it all is that so many of us are in God's permissive will. May we all desire to be in His perfect will.

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Fourth in a series by the late Dr. Henry Grube

PAUL'S MESSAGE

INTRODUCTION : In previous lessons we have seen :

Paul as a man, his manner of life.
How he met the Saviour.
The meaning of the three years of silence after his conversion.

In this study we shall consider his message. The Bible makes a statement concerning "present truth" (II Peter 1:12). Some truths are applicable to all Ages, and are therefore "resent truth" to every generation. Other truth however, is os special character and is applicable to only one generation. This does not mean that any one truth is more important than any other. Each is of utmost importance to the generations which hears and accepts, or rejects the message.

Consider the main message of :

NOAH: (Genesis 6:13-14, Hebrews 11:17, I Peter 3:20 ). To the generation to whom it was preached, this message was "present truth".
JONAH : (Jonah 3:3-4 ) His general theme was repentance to the people of Nineveh.
"Present truth" to them.
JOHN THE BAPTIST : (Mark 1:1-8, Luke 7:29-30). His general theme was "Repent, be baptized, the Kingdom is at hand". If John's message had been preached a generation before or if it is preached now, it would not be "present truth" nor applicable to this age. The people of the generation before, would not have lived to see it fulfilled, and to those living after, it would have been wrongly timed.

This is not true of 'general truths, basic principles', for such messages as love, faith, hope, repentance, obedience, justice, and mercy, are always applicable to every age to all people. These truths and many others are always "in season". "Present Truth" may include these fundamental truths, but present truth always has a distinctive character, and a special "message".

PAUL'S MESSAGE : Immediately after his conversion, we note a distinct advance in truth. (Acts 9:20), for the FIRST time, the Lord is proclaimed as the Son of God, in the Book of Acts. The other Apostles recognized Christ as the Son of God, but the general theme of their message was the Messiahship of Christ, His Lordship, and Christ as the rejected King, raised from the dead, etc. They preached Christ in relation to ISRAEL.

Paul's message had nothing Jewish about it. He was converted near a Gentile city….he was told his testimony would NOT be received of the Jews, Acts 22:18. Paul was told to "go far hence" (Acts 22:21) Paul was completely changed from "Judaism" that the Jews never recognized him, and the Jewish Christians misunderstood him, ( acts 15, and Acts 21:20-21).

As Moses was the Law-giver in the Old Testament, even so Paul becomes the minister of The Grace of God. As Moses was the voice of authority for Israel, Matthew 23:1-4) even so Paul becomes the voice of authority for the members of The Church, which is The Body of Christ. ( Acts 26:16- Romans 1:5; 15:16- Galatians 2:9- Colossians 1:24-29) etc.

What is "The Message" ? There are many "present truths" in his message, some of which are : Romans 3:21-31; I Corinthians 12:12-13 ( note what was to pass away ); I Corinthians 13:8; Ephesians 2:14-18; Colossians 1:20-29 and II Corinthians 5:19-20.

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