Participants: Tony Moore
Series Code: IFP
Program Code: IFP000002
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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." |
Revised 2016-09-06