Who is Paul and who are the Philippians?
These are important questions that God has given us the answer to. Last week we introduced a series on the letter to the Philippians where we read that, according to what this letter says, Christ is our purpose, our pattern, our prize, provider, peace and our power. We read statements within this letter where the author says:
1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Christ - our purpose.
2:5 Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Christ - our pattern.
3:8&14 Indeed, I count everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. (And vs. 14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Christ - our prize.
4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Christ - our power.
Again, Christ our purpose, Christ our pattern, Christ our prize and Christ our power!
Who is this author that seems so committed to Christ, so devoted to knowing him, so willing to give up all for him, and so confident in him and contented through him?
Who is this Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ? We don't have to guess or wonder. God supplies us with the story of Paul's life before during and after his conversion to Christ. We can read it for ourselves written by one of Paul's own traveling companions: Luke, who wrote the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Isn't it amazing what God's word reveals to us? Paul's story is told in the book of Acts.
When we meet this man, Paul, his name is Saul from Tarsus. He is Jewish, but he is also a Roman citizen. His dad was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). He was trained up in the best Jewish school available under the best teacher of their times. (Acts 22:3). He grew to be a man of amazing devotion to his faith and a genius of his own time. Paul was an alpha, a top achiever, a talented, brilliant man with an internal drive that placed him in the top ranks of his class. As a young man his giftedness catapulted him into leadership within the Jewish religious authorities. He was known by the High priest and Jewish high counsel and he trusted in their religious viewpoints and what he called the "traditions of our fathers" and was submissive to their authority. (Acts 23:4-5).
When we meet him in the book of Acts, Saul is a young man. Do you remember what he is doing? Acts 7:58 is the first mention of this man in the Bible. There we meet Saul holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. Saul gave hearty approval to their killing of Stephen, a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. The irony of this is gripping.
At this point, Saul is not the kind of person we would want to have visit our services here at the Signal Mountain Church of Christ. Saul hated the church. His view of Jesus was not that Jesus is the Christ, but that Jesus was a fraud! Jesus was a blasphemer of God! In Saul's mind, Jesus got exactly what he deserved when he was crucified! In fact, if Saul could have it his way, everyone who followed Jesus as the Christ would end up on a cross. Saul fulfilled Jesus' own prophecy in John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
Look at Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-2. This shows us the "before" picture of Saul. Everyone has seen ads that use before and after pictures haven't you? Well, here's a picture of Saul of Tarsus before he meets the resurrected Jesus. What is Saul like? He hates Jesus and has dedicated his life to destroying Jesus' disciples. Saul is a Christian's worst nightmare. He didn't wait for us to go to church. Saul made house calls! He dragged off men and women and put them in prison! Why? Because they dared to confess faith in Jesus as the Christ!
By the way: Freedom of religion was not a concept that Saul either knew of or appreciated. In fact, our modern concept of freedom of religion both blesses and curses us. It blesses us in that it allows us to enjoy our religious choices and practices without interference from those who differ with us. It curses us in that it makes us think that religious choices and practices do not really matter all that much, and that we have to be careful not to let our religious choices and practices become so important to us that the get out of hand. (see WEEK mag. article on Politics and Faith: 9-9-11, p. 4). Freedom of religion in this country is quickly turning into freedom from religion.
I would argue that Saul's problem was not that he let his religious choices and practices matter too much, but that he was making the wrong ones!
Christian faith doesn't kill those who disagree with it, but within the church and among its members biblical Christian faith certainly does honor those who are faithful, and discipline those who are not. The true Christian world view sees Jesus as Lord over all, calling everyone from all nations into His kingdom by faith and obedient submission to Jesus as Christ, the Son of God. Biblical Christian faith sees Jesus Christ as the supreme judge of all the earth who will one day welcome into eternal life and glory all who are faithful and will also condemn to eternal destruction and hell all who are not. Religious freedom??? Ultimately, there is no such thing as freedom of religion. The only true freedom to be found is in Jesus Christ. Gal. 5:1,13. What we should practice here in this world is religious toleration (not acceptance), so that we use persuasion and preaching of the gospel as the tool of evangelism because we recognize the terribly dangerous condition of all who are not saved in Christ. Paul would say: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ... and, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men! 2 Cor. 5:10-11.
But I digress...
Saul of Tarsus in Acts 7:58-9:3 is Saul the persecutor of Christ's followers. Acts 9:4 marks a turning point for this young man. He meets Jesus personally as he is on his way to Damascus to seek out, arrest, and punish every Jew who confesses Jesus as the Christ.
This conversion story is unique in scripture in many ways. After the church began, what other unbeliever was ever personally confronted by an appearance of the resurrected Jesus himself? Think of it. Did Saul want to meet Jesus? Did Saul have any faith in Jesus as God's Son? Did he even question his course of destroying the faith? Listen to Saul's own words in Acts 26:9-12. Is there any hint of him doubting that he was doing God's will? Again, Saul's own words: Acts 23:1.
Saul wanted to do God's will! He thought he WAS doing God's will. In his wildest dreams he could not imagine being wrong in persecuting Christians. He was pouring all the energy and passion he had into destroying the early church, all the time believing it was what God wanted him to do. Can you imagine?
Why would Jesus appear to a man like Saul? Listen again to his own words: 1 Tim. 1:12-16. Also, Galatians 1:11-17.
Jesus himself said of Saul who became Paul: Acts 9:11-16. The Lord chose Saul. Of all the people we might think of to be a missionary, Saul of Tarsus would not have been one of them. Ananias even questioned this when Jesus told him to go to Saul. But the Lord knew Saul's heart. He knows our hearts too. The Lord searches to and fro throughout the earth looking for those whose hearts are fully devoted to him. Saul was filled with devotion to God, he just needed to be pointed in the right direction.
What would it take to turn him around? Amazingly, Jesus decided to personally appear to Saul as Saul was on his way to find followers of Jesus and throw them into prison. This meeting would forever change Saul. He was like a freight train going 1000 miles an hour in the wrong direction, God is about to totally turn him around. Saul is about to meet the Lord Jesus, and become a servant of Jesus Christ for the rest of his life.
When I need evidence that Jesus Christ is real. When I need encouragement that the faith I hold in Jesus as the Son of God is true, one of the places I go to find great evidence, encouragement and strength this event in the life of Saul of Tarsus. Paul was are real person. He wrote several letters that we have in the New Testament. Even the liberal Bible scholars who don't believe in Jesus, agree that Paul wrote Romans. Something happened to this man who formerly hated Jesus and afterward could not get enough of him. What was it? I'll tell you what it was. He met Jesus personally in heavenly glory. It wasn't the last time Jesus appeared to him either! In 2 Cor. 12:1-10 he tells of a time when he was caught up into paradise where he received revelations from God that he describes as surpassingly great revelations. Paul will say, "What I received I passed on to you..." and he argues that his message and gospel did not come from any man, but from Jesus Christ himself.
That Saul of Tarsus is the same man who wrote the little letter to Philippians. His life is one of the greatest examples of God's grace in the New Testament. Through his mission work and letters the gospel of Jesus Christ was spread throughout the Roman empire and we are here today and still guided by God's word recorded by the pen of Paul.
