The midland journal., 1946-10-18
PAUL TRAINS FOR
HIS LIFE WORK


LESSON TExT-Acts s:1sb.22; l1:25. 2s;
MEMORY SELECTTON-And straightway
he preached Christ in the synagogues, that
he Is the Son of God-Acts 9:20
The regenerating grace of God
had made Paul into new man, one
who now had no greater delight than
telling others of the redeeming
grace of God.
In preparation for that fuller min
istry which was to follow, Paul first
gave witness in the place where he
had been prosecuting the Christians,
in fact, in the city to which he was
bound when the Lord met him. But
now instead of breathing out threats
and violence he met these former
associates and friends with the new
message of the gospel.
He had to meet them sooner or
later, and it was we'll that he met
them now. A clean break with his
past makes man ready for future
service.
1. Paul Faces His Past .(Acts
9:19b-22).
What surprise it must have been
for those prosecutors of the Chris
tians at Damascus to find that the
one to whom they had looked for
leadership was now a Christian.
What a testimony that was-right to
the point!
"Straightway"-what a good word
to apply to the servant of the Lord.
Paul did not hesitate to declare his
faith in Christ, to proclaim that the
One who had redeemed him was
able to save others.
It is the normal and proper ex-
preston of Christian faith to give
testimony to others. That should
be true of every believer. With Paul
there was the added element of his
call to preach, for God had ordained
that he should be his chosen vessel
for that purpose (Acts 9:15).
Paups message was Christ Ea
proved to the Jews that Jesus was
the Christ ". 22), the One of whom
their Old Testament Scriptures
spake and for whom they professed
to be locking. He declared him to
be the Son of God ". 20).
They were unwilling to accept
the messhge. They were amazed"
at Paul and "confounded" by the
truth he proclaimed, but they re-
jected both it and him, and he had
to escape for his life.
Although our lesson only indirect
ly refers to it (see Gal. iii, 18),
it should also be noted that Paul
went up to Jerusalem before he
went to Antioch, as indicated in our
next portion of Scripture.
There he faced suspicion on the
part of the believers, who knew
him as their enemy.
Having faced his past we now
see that
II. Paul Faces His Future (Acts
11:25, 26).
He was Gods chosen instrument
to bear his name to the Gentiles
(see Acts 9:15), and at the invita-
ton of Barnabas he came up from
his home city of Tarsus to minister
at Antioch, the place which now be-
came his real spiritual home, and
the center from which his great
missionary enterprise was carried
out.
1t is interesting to note how this
came about in the providence of
God. Persecution spread the be-
levers abroad (Acts :19), and like
the scattered brands of a beaten
fire they carried the flame of Chris
tianity far and wide. Thus the gos-
pei came to Antioch, the third great
est city in the world of that day. A
revival broke out and Barnabas was
sent from Jerusalem to be of help.
Good and spiritual man that he
was (Acts 1928, 24), Barnabas did
nothing to hinder this work of God,
but admonished the people to
"cleave unto the Lord; that is, to
follow him closely. Would that all
spiritual advisers had such a spirit
and such sound judgment.
He was also wise in sensing his
need of help. So he went after
Paul, the very man to teach these
young Christians and to lead them
out into a radiant and abundant
life for the Lord. Here it was that
the beautiful name of Christian"
was first used.
All this was possible because
iii. Paul Faces His Lord (Gal.
1:17-2N.
Many years after he had been
called to Antioch, Paul wrote this
letter to the Galatians to warn them
against Judaizing teachers and to
urge them to hold fast to salvation
by faith. He declared this to be a
message which he received from
God and not from men.
Before Paul went out to preach and
teach he went up into Arabia to be
alone with the Lord, as he took what
we might call his postgraduate
course in theology. He learned
alone with God.
G. L.