#106 “Great Intercessors of the Bible”

 Saul –of Tarsus (Paul)

Humble, Asked for or Prayed for) Pt.1

  “He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him,
"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

He said, "Who are you, Lord?" 
The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!"

(Acts 6:13)

The VOICE (VOICE)

New we come to the Apostle Paul commonly known as Saul of Tarsus one of the most deadly man to encounter if you were an early disciple of Jesus Christ. “In the mean time, Saul—this fuming, raging, hateful man who wanted to kill every last one of the Lord’s disciples: he went to the high priest in Jerusalem for authorization to purge all the synagogues in Damascus of followers of the way of Jesus. His plan was to arrest and chain any of Jesus’ followers—women as well as men—and transport them back to Jerusalem. ³ He traveled north toward Damascus with a group of companions.” (Acts 9:1-3) Saul, the same young man that witnessed the stoning of Stephen… was still breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ even if it meant traveling to ever city and synagogue to track them down.

Why was Saul doing this? Why did he derive such pleasure in seeing the followers of Christ killed? Well for one thing he felt he was doing God a favor, that the followers of Christ were worshipping a false God. “These things have I spoken to you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yes, the time will come, that whoever kills you will think that they have done God a service. But only because they have not known the Father, nor Me.” (John 16:2)  In fact Saul was a very devout man and knew the Holy Scriptures yet just like those he was working for, he did not know the hour of His visitation from the Lord.

From our earlier lesson regarding the death of Stephen in Acts 7-8, we know that Saul played an key role in the ensuing riot which lead to Stephen’s stoning. Saul was the go-between for the Chief Priests and Pharisees and also for the king Herod and the Romans. Because of this the Christian Jews would have perceived Saul as being unsavory and not to be trusted, in fact he was to be feared.  No one would have imagined that Saul would have become a Christian much less an Apostle. To the Jewish elite he was viewed as a hypocrite but yet it was them who he was working for. They had given him the needed authority to track down any and all followers of Christ and kill them; the believers of Christ were much afraid of him and were watching closely for his arrival in their cities.

Can you imagine the level of intercession which was going forth on behalf of the believers of Christ as they prayed for one another’s safety? The word said, “The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”(James 9:8-9) All of the Christian Jews knew that Saul was coming with letters giving him authority to take any follows of Christ into custody and take them to Jerusalem to be tried and killed, just as Stephen had been.  They could not stop interceding until God had answered their prayers, and He did but they did not know in what manner He would answer.

“As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He said, "Who are you, Lord?"  The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”  The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one.” (Acts 9:3-7) 

Instead of killing the killer God chose to kill the spirit which was driving Him, how? By allowing Him to meet the one he was persecuting instead of the ones he wanted to persecute. What I love about this is that when we pray for God to intervene we never know how He is going to do it. We may be thinking one thing and God steps in and does something completely the opposite. “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God Decree, “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work and the way I think is beyond the way you think.”(Isaiah 55:8-9)  Such was the case with Saul; I doubt very seriously that anyone was praying that God would save him. They just wanted God to deal with him and stop him for his relentless pursuit of them.

Well stopped Saul is just what the Lord did, by the time the Lord had finished speaking to him. “Saul rises to his feet, his eyes wide open, but he can’t see a thing. So his companions lead their blind friend by the hand and take him into Damascus. He waits for three days—completely blind—and does not eat a bite or drink a drop of anything.” (Acts 9:8-9) No doubt each of us may have or have had a Saul in our live, that one person who is out to get you no matter what it takes…on the job or in the community you live in or ever in your family, they just seem to have a personal vendetta against you and will not rest until they have gotten you.  Let us take a lesson for today’s lesson and instead of asking God to kill them or stop them let’s ask Him to “Save them” instead.  Tomorrow we will continue our study on Saul another “Great Intercessors of the Bible.” 

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, gracious and loving God who wills that all men come to repentance and be saved no matter how terrible they may be. Father there Saul of Tarsus in each of our lives and we have interceding asking You to intervene and deliver us for their vengeful wrath. Father we will not presume to tall You how to do Your job so we simply say have You way Lord God and move according to Your divine will and purpose for their lives and ours  Thank You Father for making all things well in our lives and theirs, in Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen!!! 

Have A Bless Day…Go in God’s Peace!  

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