In The Footsteps of Paul

On The Damascus Road

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Tony Moore

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Series Code: IFP

Program Code: IFP000002


01:36 In our opening presentation
01:38 we explore the life in background of the
01:40 Apostle Paul; we discover that he was in the great
01:44 city of Tarsus. His father wanted to send him
01:47 to Jerusalem to finish his education.
01:49 So, Saul sailed from Tarsus to the magnificent
01:53 port of Caesarea where Herod had built a large
01:57 harbor and named it after his benefactor
01:59 Caesar Augustus. Saul would have walked
02:02 50 miles up to Jerusalem taking several days to
02:06 reach the holy city, but as he ascended the hill
02:10 of Mount Zion and his heart must have been
02:12 glad to see the beautiful temple dominating the
02:15 city escape. Saul's father had send him
02:19 here to finish his education.
02:20 He was the son of the Pharisee and joined
02:23 the prodigious school of Rabbi Gamliel,
02:26 who was leading scholar of the day,
02:28 and refer to by the Tamid as the glory of the law.
02:33 Saul as he was known by his Jewish name
02:36 became a Rabbi in the tradition of the Pharisees,
02:39 the ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism that sort to
02:42 obey the law twenty four hours a day,
02:45 seven days a week. He rapidly ascended the
02:48 ladder of Judaism, and became an influential
02:52 leader. This was a great time of turmoil
02:55 in the city. Followers of Jesus were claiming
02:59 that he have been raised from the dead.
03:01 They were saying that they had seen him
03:03 and talk with him, and some even said they
03:05 had eaten with him, and one even claimed
03:08 to have put his finger in his hand.
03:11 The city of Jerusalem was filled with many
03:14 Greek speaking Jews who were not native
03:16 to Palestine, who had been spread in
03:19 Diaspora throughout the Greek speaking world.
03:23 One of the Greek speaking Jews who was
03:25 named Steven. One day as he was teaching
03:28 and preaching about Jesus, some of the leaders
03:30 of Jerusalem over heard what was being said,
03:34 they confronted Steven about what he was saying,
03:38 they tried to refute his arguments about Jesus
03:41 being the Messiah, they could not.
03:44 And so they arrested him and brought him
03:45 before the Sanhedrin. It was at this moment
03:48 that Saul came eye to eye with Steven,
03:51 but even his brilliant mind could not match
03:55 the simple testimony of Steven,
03:58 that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah,
04:02 the Christ of Bible prophecy.
04:05 Steven witnessed in beautiful way before
04:09 the Sanhedrin, they listen until they heard
04:13 Steven talk about his resurrection from
04:15 the dead, then they plug their ears,
04:18 and then in same moment they rushed forward
04:20 toward him and they grabbed him,
04:22 and they drug him out the lions gate into the
04:25 Kedron Valley, and there Steven looked
04:30 up to heaven and he said:
04:33 "I see the Son of Man standing by the right
04:37 hand of the Father's throne." The zealous
04:41 believers in meanwhile took the stones
04:43 and threw him on Steven here in the Kedron valley.
04:47 And as a life was being crushed out of his body,
04:50 he said Lord Jesus forgive them for what
04:55 they were doing. What precious words,
04:58 what powerful words? Scripture says Saul
05:02 was there holding the garments of the men
05:04 who were throwing the rocks.
05:07 He was there giving his consent to it,
05:09 and he heard the words spoken by a man who's
05:12 face was lit up like an angel. Lord Jesus don't
05:15 hold this against them forgive them,
05:18 and he wondered what is the power of this
05:22 Galilean Prophet whose followers loosing their
05:26 life would forgive the very ones who were
05:28 taking his life. Saul continued to persecute
05:32 the church here in Jerusalem.
05:34 This one act caused the believers to disperse,
05:38 they would go from Jerusalem out into Judea,
05:41 and to Samaria, and some would even go as far as
05:45 Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and some all the way
05:49 to Antioch. Yes the believers fled from the
05:52 city of Jerusalem, and Saul was breathing
05:55 out threatenings against the church.
05:58 Saul was arresting the believers in the church
06:00 and hauling them to trial. Soon, Saul cleaned
06:06 up the Galilean believers here in Jerusalem except
06:11 for the major leaders, and the high priest asked
06:14 him to go to Damascus and to purify the synagogue
06:19 of this dreaded heresy. Saul received letters of
06:23 authority from the chief priest, and he received a
06:26 contingent of temple police to accompany him
06:30 on that 150 mile journey to Damascus.
06:33 It would take 7 days to travel from Jerusalem
06:37 to Damascus, 7 days of walking.
06:40 Along the way Saul would have a lot of time
06:44 to meditate, a lot of time to spend with his
06:47 thoughts, a lot of time to think.
06:50 The Holy Spirit would take advantage of this,
06:53 and would restore his mind, restore his emotions,
06:56 restore his thoughts. We're now going to trace
07:01 Saul's journey as he would leave the city of
07:03 Jerusalem, he would travel down the Wadi
07:05 Qelt to Jericho. As he walked down the
07:09 Wadi Qelt I wondered, was he aware of the
07:14 story of the good Samaritan that happened
07:15 here in this Wadi? Was he aware of
07:17 Jesus teachings? As he reached the city
07:20 of Jericho, I wonder if he had interviewed that
07:24 short tax collector name Zacchaeus,
07:27 the one who have given away half of his goods,
07:29 and returned fourfold the things he had taken
07:31 illegally from people. Had he interviewed
07:34 blind Bartimaeus who claimed to have been
07:37 healed by the touch of Jesus there in Jericho?
07:41 Saul must have been struggling with his
07:43 thoughts, surely it cannot be true for
07:47 none other great leaders have believed in him,
07:49 Saul turn and begin to walk up the Jordan Valley,
07:53 and as he walked along the Jordan river
07:55 he must have thought of John the Baptist where
07:57 John had stirred the entire nation with
07:59 his preaching, his preaching of repentance
08:01 and baptism. Certainly Saul was aware that
08:05 Jesus would come down to be baptized by John
08:08 in the Jordan River. And then when he baptized,
08:11 then the Holy Spirit had down in the form of dove
08:15 and lit upon him and that John had identified him
08:17 as the Lamb of God. Saul must have thought
08:20 how could John be so foolish.
08:22 Everybody knows the Messiah does not come
08:26 from Nazareth, the Messiah comes from Bethlehem,
08:30 how could he be taken him like this?
08:33 Saul wrestles with his conscience,
08:36 tries to put out of his mind, as he pushes on
08:39 walking up the Jordan Valley.
08:42 By the fourth day, Saul would have reached
08:44 the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee,
08:47 also known as the Sea of Tiberias, named after
08:50 the ruling emperor in Rome, the city on the
08:54 hill was also named after Tiberias.
08:57 But actually this is not a sea at all,
08:59 it's a lake, and it was known as the Lake of
09:02 Kinneret because it was shaped like a harp,
09:05 it was also known as the Lake of Gennesaret,
09:07 because of the plain of Gennesaret that sweeps
09:10 down on the north western shore of Galilee.
09:13 This lake was rich in resources teaming
09:17 with fish, numerous communities sprout up
09:20 around the shores. As Saul walked up the
09:24 Jordan Valley, he came to this lake that was
09:27 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, and at
09:31 700 fit below sea level, the lowest fresh
09:34 water lake on earth. The great trunk road
09:38 joined the road Saul was walking on from
09:42 Jericho here on the western shore of the
09:45 Sea of Galilee. This was the greatest road
09:48 of antiquity, it was the road that connected
09:50 Egypt with Damascus, and Anatolia on to the north,
09:55 and Persia to the east and to the Orient,
09:59 it was the international highway of the day.
10:02 Saul walked along the western shore of the
10:05 Sea of Galilee, the road came by the town of
10:08 Magdala, Magdala Mary, had he interviewed her.
10:14 She still held to her incredible claim that
10:19 she had seen Jesus alive after he was resurrected
10:24 from the dead. Everyone knows that's impossible,
10:27 what a silly woman, how ridicules.
10:31 She's is gullible believing in such
10:33 fables as this, will she telling the truth.
10:38 Saul walking along the shore, struggling with
10:43 his thoughts, the Holy Spirit stirring
10:47 his emotions, could it be true as he rounded
10:52 the northern end of the Sea of Galilee,
10:55 he came to Capernaum. Capernaum was a place
10:59 where over one third of Jesus miracles
11:02 took place, Capernaum was known as Jesus
11:05 own city. Saul would have been traveling for
11:08 five days now so perhaps he would stop
11:11 to worship in a Synagogue,
11:13 if so he would probably been asked to teach
11:15 in the synagogue. The synagogue here at
11:18 Capernaum is built in the fourth century,
11:21 but as we look closely we see a difference
11:23 between the white stones of Synagogue
11:25 and black basalt stones of the earlier foundation.
11:30 The black stones come from the first
11:32 century synagogue; the same synagogue
11:35 that Jesus was invited to teaching on the
11:38 Sabbath day. If Saul was invited to teach
11:43 here which he would had been as a great Rabbi,
11:46 I can imagine that as we sat down in the
11:49 synagogue, perhaps he saw the Roman centurion,
11:53 the man who would built this synagogue
11:58 was so aware that Jesus had healed this
12:01 man servant, did he meet Jairus the ruler
12:05 of the synagogue, yes Jairus the very man
12:09 who's daughter have died and Jesus had
12:11 resurrected from dead, was she there that day.
12:15 As Saul was teaching to deceive that man in
12:19 the crowd, the man who would run down
12:22 the isle of the synagogues screaming
12:24 out Jesus Nazarene what do you have to do
12:27 with us, I know you are the son of God.
12:30 Even the demon's knew that the Messiah did
12:34 not come from Nazareth, the Messiah came from
12:38 Bethlehem. And so in the tone of distained
12:43 even the demons slurred Jesus by calling him
12:47 Jesus the Nazarene. And yet Jesus had not
12:52 been intimated by the demon possessed man
12:54 but he's spoken the word in man was cleansed
12:58 of his demons. Was he there in the synagogue
13:01 that day? Saul must have been swearing
13:04 in his mind, not knowing quite what to do with
13:07 all of the stories, the miracles that had
13:09 happened here in this city.
13:11 This was a city of Peter and John and
13:14 their brothers. This is where they had based
13:16 their fishing business, were the relatives in the
13:19 synagogue that day. Saul would have been
13:23 anxious to leave the city of Capernaum on the
13:26 northern shore of Galilee for it was here that
13:29 so many of Jesus' teachings and miracles
13:32 had taken place. As he left Capernaum,
13:35 he would have gotten back on the great trunk road
13:37 and began his journey to Damascus.
13:40 As he walked up pass this slope, was he aware
13:44 that it was here that Jesus had given the
13:46 Sermon on the Mount? Was he familiar with those
13:50 teachings that we call today the beatitudes?
13:54 Those wonderful teachings, the in-depth
13:57 teachings that Jesus gave recorded in
14:00 Matthew chapter 5, 6 and 7 happened here
14:04 on the slopes over the Sea of Galilee.
14:08 Saul aware of that, if so I'm sure he tried to
14:11 put those teachings out of his mind as
14:13 he pressed on for his journey to Damascus.
14:17 The highway would have gone passed huts,
14:20 this tremendous city that was really a fort
14:24 guarding the narrow pass for the highway from
14:28 Damascus to Galilee and on down to Egypt,
14:31 but he wouldn't stop there, he would have
14:33 pressed on going to the new administrative
14:36 center of the area, it was known as Caesarea
14:40 Philippi. This was a place where Herod Philip
14:44 built a temple for Caesar to be worshiped
14:47 and named it jointly after Caesar and himself.
14:51 It was a site rich in history and since there
14:54 was the center administratively;
14:57 Saul would have probably
14:59 stopped for lodging there.
15:11 This is refreshing! We've come to Caesarea Philippi,
15:14 one of the three principle sources of the
15:16 Jordan River. Water wells up here at 20 cubic
15:21 meters per second, and flows down to join the
15:24 other two sources; forming the head waters
15:27 of the Jordan. It flows on down to the
15:30 Sea of Galilee and then forms the Jordan River,
15:33 snaking its way down to the Dead Sea.
15:36 Saul would have stopped here beside
15:39 the waters of the Jordan as it flowed forth
15:42 from the cave. This cave was anciently a
15:48 temple of Baal. When Alexander the Great
15:51 came through, the deity changed, and Han
15:55 was worshipped at this site.
15:57 You can see the nitches that are carved
15:59 into the sides of the rock.
16:04 Herod the great had received it as a gift from
16:06 Augustus Caesar and built a temple inside the
16:08 cave to Augustus, who was worshipped here
16:10 on this high place. When Saul passed
16:13 by, the waters of the Jordan still flowed
16:16 from the cave. Today they've been closed
16:19 because of earthquake activity, and the water
16:21 simply springs up from the ground,
16:24 and then flows down to the Sea of Galilee.
16:28 Saul would have paused here, resting by the
16:31 Jordan, and I wonder if he was aware that
16:33 it was here on this spot that Jesus had taken
16:35 His followers and asked them that important
16:38 question: Who do men say that I
16:40 am? They answered, some say you are Elijah,
16:45 others say you are Jeremiah, others say
16:47 you are another one of the prophets.
16:49 and He looked them in the eye, and He said,
16:51 but who do you say that I am?
16:53 And Peter spoke for the group affirming their
16:56 faith by saying, you are the Christ,
16:59 you are the Messiah, the son of the living God.
17:03 And for the first time Jesus accepts their
17:05 worship of him as Messiah. But Saul aware of that,
17:10 (if he was), would have said this was a blasphemous
17:14 statement. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.
17:16 Everybody knows the Messiah comes from Bethlehem,
17:19 perhaps he to became even more determined
17:22 to press on from here to reach his goal
17:24 of going to Damascus and purifying the
17:27 synagogue of this dreaded sect.
17:29 Yes, Saul thought it was blasphemy, and yet,
17:35 his heart was being strangely stirred by
17:38 the Holy Spirit. He struggles, could it be
17:42 that Jesus really is the Christ, the Messiah,
17:47 the Son of the living God, impossible he thinks,
17:52 none of the great leaders have accepted him,
17:54 none of the great leaders believed in him.
17:56 Saul would wake up the next morning,
17:59 more determined than ever to pass on to
18:02 Damascus and to accomplish the task
18:04 for which God had commissioned him.
18:09 As he pressed on to the crust of the pass of
18:12 the Golan Heights, he was struggling with
18:14 his conscience. The Holy Spirit was pricking
18:17 his mind and stirring his thoughts but to resist
18:21 he focused upon the task, he had been sent
18:23 to accomplish arresting the believers in Jesus
18:27 and purifying Damascus of this dreaded Galilean
18:30 heresy. Perhaps he paused on the crust of
18:33 the ridge overlooking the city, the emerald
18:37 green city that was the largest races in
18:40 the world, this city floating in the midst
18:43 of the desert was a spectacular site.
18:46 The city was surrounded by barren mountains
18:49 on three sides and fence end by the Syrian
18:51 Desert on the fourth. It was built on a fertile
18:54 plain that was well watered by the streams
18:56 formed from the melting snow of the mountains.
19:00 It is the oldest continually inhabited
19:02 city in the world, and it's called the earthly
19:05 paradise. Mohammad would not visit the city
19:08 because he didn't want to enter paradise
19:10 before he died. The city is such a delightful
19:13 site standing in stark contrast to the dry hills
19:16 he has just crossed. As he gauged upon the
19:19 city at noon, he contemplated his mission.
19:22 As he pondered what was before him it happened,
19:25 a light brighter than the noon day sun in a
19:28 cloudless sky flashed. Saul was stunned,
19:32 blinded by the brilliance and fell to the ground.
19:35 Then he heard a voice saying.
19:37 "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
19:41 It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
19:44 Saul was totally overwhelmed by the
19:46 surprise of this theophany.
19:48 He felt down to the earth as if he were dead.
19:51 He was so shocked to hear the voice
19:53 from heaven that he asked the voice to
19:56 identify itself. "Who are you, Lord?"
19:59 "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
20:03 Jesus this was impossible. How could he have been
20:09 wrong all along? Saul have been struggling
20:13 with his conscience, fighting against the
20:16 Holy Spirit but now things came together
20:19 clearly for him. While he was shocked
20:22 he must have been somewhat relieved for
20:25 he have been struggling as he walked down from
20:27 Jerusalem to Jericho, and from Jericho up to
20:30 Jordan Valley to the Sea of Tiberias,
20:32 he had been struggling with the Holy Spirit
20:35 fighting against the spirit as he rounded the
20:37 Sea of Galilee. The Holy Spirit was pricking
20:39 his mind, steering his thoughts and then as
20:43 he walked up Golan Heights and came to
20:47 the ridge overlooking the beautiful city of
20:49 Damascus, the spirit have been prompting
20:52 his thoughts. Jesus said, "Saul, Saul,
20:56 why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to
20:59 kick against the goads." While we may not be
21:02 familiar with this terminology,
21:04 Saul knew exactly what it meant.
21:07 For he had walked along his journey he had
21:10 seen many farmer guiding his oxen with
21:13 something call an ox goad, it was a long stick
21:17 with the point on it and the farmer would
21:19 take that stick and poke the oxen to cause the
21:22 oxen to go in the direction he would
21:24 want them to go. If he needed them to change
21:26 directions or to get his attention he would
21:28 prick them with it. Yes, Saul was kicking against
21:33 the goads. He was kicking against the pricks.
21:36 The Holy Spirit was pricking his mind,
21:39 steering his thoughts, trying to put them into a
21:42 different direction that Saul was resisting by
21:45 focusing upon the task that was before him.
21:48 Saul have been strangely moved by the testimony
21:51 of Steven. When he saw his face lit up like an
21:54 angel and heard the words Lord forgive them
21:57 for they don't know what they are doing,
21:59 it had moved his heart. The Holy Spirit have been
22:02 using this to stir his emotions.
22:05 But to fight off conviction he threw
22:07 himself into his work just like we often do,
22:11 the Holy Spirit stirs our minds, stirs our
22:14 emotions, pricks our thought but to ignore
22:17 the prodding of the Holy Spirit, we focus upon
22:21 activities, a round of activities.
22:24 We fill our minds with other things to try
22:27 and ignore the prodding's of the Holy Spirit,
22:29 that's what Saul had done. He was coming to
22:32 Damascus with letters from the high priest to
22:35 purify the synagogue of the dreaded heresy of
22:38 the Galilean Prophet, but he was traveling
22:41 alone on that dusty road. As he walked up
22:44 the heart of Jordan Valley, the Holy Spirit
22:46 was stirring his mind, as he had those quite
22:50 moments besides the sea, the Holy Spirit was
22:53 trying to impress him that it was true that
22:57 Jesus was Lord of all.
23:00 You see Saul was zealous for the honor of Yahweh,
23:05 but he was blinded to the truth.
23:08 You know we are lot like Saul, aren't we?
23:10 We try and resist the Holy Spirit.
23:13 The Spirit presses in, stirs our emotions,
23:16 tries to turn our eyes to Jesus, but we do all
23:18 that we can to try and ignore the prodding.
23:21 The Holy Spirit is good. He continued to move
23:25 upon Saul's mind, each step of the way.
23:29 You see people have been praying for Saul,
23:31 converted family members have been
23:33 praying for him. The church of Jerusalem
23:35 have been praying for him, the believers in
23:37 Damascus have been praying for him,
23:39 and now the Holy Spirit came upon in full force
23:42 as he came here to the ridge over looking
23:46 the beautiful city of Damascus.
23:51 Saul had responded to the prayers of the
23:53 church by moving deeper into the persecution mode.
23:57 That happens sometimes we are praying for our
24:00 relatives too. They resist, they become irritable,
24:05 they may even become angry, but we shouldn't
24:08 quit praying. Look what happened to Saul as a
24:11 result of the prayers being offered in
24:13 his behalf. He comes to his ridge, sees the city
24:17 of Damascus and then sees a vision of Jesus.
24:22 Yes, it was hard for Saul to kick against
24:26 the pricks, it was hard for him to resist
24:29 the Holy Spirit, and getting through himself
24:31 into the activity and try to fight against the
24:34 living of God's Spirit. God presented an obstacle
24:38 course to Saul to keep him from being lost.
24:42 Yes, he said, it's hard to kick against the goads.
24:46 Sometimes Christians get this mixed up,
24:49 they think it is easy to be lost and hard
24:52 to be saved. But actually the passage
24:55 tells us just the opposite. Saul, it's hard
24:58 for you to kick against the pricks,
25:00 it's hard for you to be lost to fight against
25:04 the spirit of God. God is good, attempting
25:07 to lead every person to repentance into the
25:10 further cross and He was doing this in
25:12 Saul's life as well. Solomon struggling
25:16 with the Holy Spirit all along the journey
25:18 and now and now in top of all came together
25:20 when he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ.
25:23 Acts chapter 26 verse 12 says,
25:25 "Who are you Lord? "'I am Jesus, whom
25:28 you are persecuting.' The Lord replied.
25:29 "Now get up and stand on your feet.
25:31 I have appeared to you to appoint you as a
25:33 servant and as a witness of what you
25:35 have seen of me and what I will show you."
25:38 Incredible, Jesus was calling the very man
25:42 who was trying to destroy his name here
25:44 in Damascus. Saul was flooded with unbelievable
25:48 emotion. It was something he would never forget.
25:52 In his old age he wrote to his friend Timothy
25:55 "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full
25:59 acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world
26:02 to save sinners-of whom I am the worst.
26:06 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so
26:08 that in me, the worst of sinners,
26:10 Christ Jesus might display his unlimited
26:13 patience as an example for those who
26:16 would believe on him and receive eternal life."
26:19 Now he understood how Steven could forgive
26:22 those who were stoning him. Steven had met Jesus.
26:27 Yes, the Holy Spirit have been stirring
26:29 his emotions, pricking his conscience until
26:32 finally Saul came to the point here on the
26:35 ridge overlooking Damascus of surrendering
26:38 all to Jesus. Does a Holy Spirit had been
26:42 pricking you, as we followed his journey
26:45 from Jerusalem down to Jericho,
26:47 and up to Jordan Valley, around the
26:49 Sea of Galilee, over the Golan Heights to
26:51 this ridge, is the Holy Spirit been speaking
26:54 to your heart. Do you sense the need
26:57 right now to surrender your all to Jesus just
27:01 as Saul did? Please join us as we pray.
27:04 Eternal God, Father of Abraham, Isaac
27:08 and Jacob, it's amazing to us how you could
27:11 reach a misdirected Zealot like Saul and
27:15 you could change him turning him around
27:17 completely here on the road to Damascus
27:20 that he could become so changed that the
27:23 very name he came here to destroy,
27:25 he ends up proclaiming. Lord we sense you are
27:29 potting in our hearts, in our lives,
27:31 in our minds, and we want to surrender our
27:33 all to you right now. We pray in Jesus name,
27:37 amen. What a thrilling teaching to see Saul
27:41 coming here to the ridge overlooking Damascus
27:44 and yielding his heart to Jesus.
27:47 Saul is led from this ridge down into the
27:50 city where he discovered the Gospel.
27:52 Don't miss the next thrilling chapter in this
27:55 series "A Rabbi discovers the Gospel."


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Revised 2016-09-06