Paul was a dedicated Pharisee schooled in the Law of Moses, and thus able to minister to the Jewish people, showing how Jesus Christ fulfilled more than 300 prophecies of the Old Testament. Paul was also schooled in the Greek culture as well as being a citizen of Rome, thus he was able to minister to Greeks and Romans about Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only way to the Father.
Paul was converted to Christ on the road to Damascus when he saw a vision of his Lord and Savior in a light so bright that it blinded him for three days. God also, at the same time, appeared to Ananias in a vision instructing him to pray for one called Saul. Ananias laid hands on Saul and he immediately received his sight and was baptized. Acts 13:9 says that Saul was also called Paul.
Paul tells the Galations that he could guarantee them that the Gospel which he preached was the absolute truth as to that which he had received from Christ Himself. (Galations 1:11-12, 15-16)
Paul makes three missionary journeys preaching the Gospel to many nations, including the Isles of Britain. Western civilization owes much to the Apostle Paul for bringing them the good news about Jesus Christ. Many of our hospitals, colleges and humanitarian groups were founded by Christians trying to fulfill the teaching of Christ and making this world a better place to live.
Paul, arriving in Jerusalem after his third missionary journey, found himself attacked over his message. They were accusing him of teaching against the Law of Moses and the Jewish people, as well as polluting the Temple. In his defense before Jewish authorities, he also had to defend himself before Roman authorities. The Romans controlled Jerusalem and made sure that there was no disorder going on. Paul was kept in custody for two years by Felix. (Acts 24:27)
He then was released and spent another four or five years in missionary work to Gentile nations.
Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon in approximately AD 63, during his first imprisonment. He was arrested a second time by Roman authorities around AD 67-68. The most accepted tradition is that Paul met his death, by beheading, at the order of the Roman Emperor Nero.
It was rumored that Nero started the fire that destroyed much of Rome, but it has never been confirmed. He did look for a scapegoat to take the attention away from himself – the Christians. Nero fed hundreds of Christians to the lions at the remaining amphitheater.
Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel. He wrote the Philippians that his bonds in Christ were manifest throughout all the palace and in all other places. (Phil. 1:13) “But this I confess unto you, after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets.” (Acts 24:14)
Paul suffered more than all the other Apostles, yet saw many miraculous healings and deliverances for those he prayed for. He sought the Lord three times for his own healing and was refused, with the Lord telling him that His strength for Paul was made prefect in the weakness of Paul. Yet in all of his suffering, he never once faltered in his total dedication to the truth of God’s Word as revealed to him on the road to Damascus and confirmed in the Law and the Prophets.
Can you imagine what he must have felt while sitting in the Roman prison, knowing that Nero was killing his fellow believers in Christ by feeding them to lions? It was at this time that Paul wrote Timothy that he was ready to leave this mortal life and be with his Christ. (II Timothy 4:6-8) Instead of keeping quiet, he spoke up about Christ, saying the Word of God is not bound, even though he was in chains; and that the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (II Timothy 2:9,19)
Today’s world has become a hostile place for everyone to live; with violence, violent weather patterns, resistance to antibiotics, strange diseases, fraud and corruption at the expense of good people, wars, genocides, chemical and biological warfare, transhumanism, manipulation of DNA, advanced technology and robotic soldiers, human trafficking, threat of WW III, nuclear annihilation, re-positioning of world superpowers, collapse of the dollar, drug and sex addictions, legalizing the killing of babies and marriage of same sex couples, God removed from all public places, the Bible just a book of stories, Christ is just a good moral teacher who had a wife and was homosexual, and the increase of persecution of Christians around the world, including in America. The Days of Noah are upon us and it will all climax when Jesus Christ returns as King of kings to rid the earth of evil and reclaim it for heaven’s purity.
Recent news is bringing to our attention a pregnant Christian woman in Sudan who refuses to renounce her faith in Christ. Click here to read the full article. Pregnant Christian To Die For Refusing To Convert.
Judge Abaas Al Khalifa on Thursday condemned Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, pronouncing, “The court has sentenced you to be hanged till you are dead.”
Ibrahim, raised as a Christian and married to a Christian man, was accused of being a Muslim and rejecting Islam, called “apostasy.” The court followed the rule of Islamic law that the father confers his faith to his children. Ibrahim’s father abandoned her family when she was a young child.
She was ordered to be flogged on a separate charge of adultery, because her marriage is not recognized by the Islamic state. Under Islamic law, a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a Christian man.
The judge, on April 30, gave Ibrahim, 27, two weeks to convert from Christianity to Islam.
She is being imprisoned with her 20-month-old son.
Are you praying for this courageous woman and her family? Christians are being persecuted, on a daily basis, in more than sixty countries around the world. When it comes to America, what will you do if you are faced with hanging, or beheading, or torture, or imprisonment for believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only way to eternal life with our heavenly Father?
Are you listening to what our president is saying about Christ and Christians? Have you read that Christians are classified as non-conformists? If you believe that the Bible teaches against certain lifestyles and that Christ is the only way to be saved, then you are a possible terrorist according to our government. Click here to read about 72 types of Americans considered ‘potential terrorists’. 72 Types of Americans That Are Considered “Potential Terrorists” In Official Government Documents.
It is time for you to find that close personal relationship with Christ that will give you the strength of Paul and of Meriam in the face of persecution. Jesus forewarned us that the members of our own households would rise up against us in the last days before He returns. Children and parents betraying one another for believing in Jesus Christ, and saying your lifestyle is wrong according to His teachings in the Word of God. Do you see any broken relationships over non-biblical lifestyles and Antichrist belief systems in your family? If not, it is coming soon, as America becomes more and more Godless and Islam, Atheism, and New Age Occultism become the dominate spiritual forces in our country. Even the Pope is willing to baptize Aliens from Mars and sit down, in the name of tolerance, with Witches and Satan worshippers.
“The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.” (Romans 13:12)
May God have mercy upon us all and help us to repent and be ready for His soon coming for His believers. Ask Him to make Himself real to you today and to forgive you of your rebellious ways, as you turn toward Him in obedience to His teachings.