Saul of Tarsus

Moore's Corner Church

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So the Apostle we're going to be looking at this Sunday is the final Apostle that Jesus called, a man named

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Saul of Tarsus, more commonly known as the Apostle Paul.

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No man did more to further the spread of Christianity than him. If you count the book of Hebrews, Paul authored 14

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New Testament epistles, far more than anyone else. So the primary source of information concerning Paul's life and ministry is the book of Acts.

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Although he does talk about his former life as a leader in Judaism and his epistles as well, but the book of Acts, the book is known as the

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Acts of the Apostles, right? And Peter is the main character from chapters 1 through 12, but starting in chapter 13, it has been said that the book, the

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Acts of the Apostles, could be titled or should be titled the

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Acts of the Apostle, singular, since it focuses solely on Paul.

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The Jews as a group had rejected Christianity, so the Lord called Paul to this unique office as the

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Apostle to the Gentiles. Acts chapter 9 records his conversion on the road to Damascus.

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And at this moment, Saul, of course, originally was a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church, and he had this authority from the

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Jewish government to arrest Christians and take them back shackled to Jerusalem to stand trial.

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Paul even seems to be the ringleader. When the first Christian was martyred for their faith, that's the story of Stephen in Acts chapters 6 through 8.

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But in Acts chapter 9, the Lord turned the church's most fierce opponent into its greatest defender.

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The Bible says in Acts 9, 3 through 6, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

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Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

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And he said, who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

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It is hard for you to kick against the goats. So he, trembling and astonished, said,

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Lord, what do you want me to do? And from that moment forward, his life was never the same.

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And not only that, the world was never the same as he and the others helped to spread the

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Christian message, the Christian faith, to the uttermost parts of the earth, a mission that the church is still on to this day.