Rightly Dividing, Pt. 17: Our Authority, The Apostle Paul

[0:00] For why we focus on Him, why we view Him as our authority, and we receive our doctrine from His epistles.! And toward the end of this, I'll even make the comments to help you understand why it's not the Lord Jesus Christ that we...

[0:18] It almost feels sacrilegious to say exalt. Why it's not His words in certain cases over another Bible writer. Why do we not put the Apostle Peter and follow him?

[0:31] Some religions do exactly that. They say Peter was their first pope, and he's the man. And to do that, they have to overlook certain other things. So let's try to cover some ground here on this.

[0:43] What I have is a six-point outline that takes you through the... It really highlights the life and the ministry of the Apostle Paul as we know it from the Bible. It's not going to give you a full biography by any means.

[0:54] But in Acts 22, where I have you be, I want to start with this thought of his upbringing. Meaning the past as a child, as a young man, and even being, what I'll say, being groomed for a position within the Jews' religion.

[1:12] It helps you to gain some understanding that he was coming up and he was going to be the next somebody. And the Lord took him from that and placed him into a calling into the gospel ministry.

[1:25] And so let's begin in Acts 22, just learning about the upbringing of the Apostle Paul. Verse number one, he's speaking to Hebrews in the Hebrew tongue. He says, So Paul was brought up, this is not normal, by the way, to be brought up, as he says, at the feet of Gamaliel.

[2:13] And taught, personally taught, and being trained as a student under this man, according to the perfect manner of the law. This is not his hometown. His hometown, he mentions, is Tarsus, where he was born.

[2:26] And yet he was sent to another city to be trained. So he was sent away to boarding school, in our vernacular. He was sent away to study under the law. Look at chapter 5.

[2:39] And there's another mention of this man, Gamaliel. We can get a little idea of who he was.

[2:51] Acts chapter 5 and verse 34. 5.34. 5.34.

[3:02] Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space.

[3:19] Now this guy, he's got some clout. He's somebody. He's a Pharisee. He is one of the council, which is a very elite group of men in the Jews' religion.

[3:33] And it says that he's a doctor of the law. And so it's no surprise then to understand that Saul, born in Tarsus, was sent to train under this doctor of the law, and to learn from him the perfect manner of the law of the fathers.

[3:54] So he was being trained and groomed in the Jews' religion and studying the precepts and the judgments and all the manners and things spoken of by Moses.

[4:06] And if you know the Pharisees, they took things a little further than they ever should have and outside of the scope of the scripture. But they were the most devoted and committed human beings on the planet as far as going to the word of God and the Jews' religion.

[4:23] Not only is Gamaliel a Pharisee, one of the council, a doctor of the law, but the verse tells us he has had in reputation among all the people. And when he stands up in this council, we're not reading between the lines really.

[4:37] It says it in the text, whether you just skim past it or not. He says he commanded. He said he told them what to do. Put these guys out there a little bit and I'm going to address you. And so they, yes sir, they do what Gamaliel says.

[4:50] And in verse 35 he says, You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do. Now in this council they don't have, we know there's a high priest, but they don't have, I suppose, they don't have one person's vote, so to speak, is any more important or valid than another's.

[5:08] But nevertheless, in that council he has had in reputation. And if he's going to say something, they're going to shut their mouths and listen. And so this is the kind of education that the apostle Paul got as a child.

[5:22] He was sent to that man to sit under that doctor of the law, to be trained by him. This is his upbringing. Flip over now to chapter number 26 of Acts. Acts 26.

[5:33] Acts 26. Acts 26.

[5:45] All right. Acts 26. We're going to be flipping around in this book quite a bit. Here Paul later on is addressing King Agrippa.

[6:03] And he references his youth in verse number 4. He said, My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews.

[6:19] So he was sent from Tarsus to Jerusalem to be trained under that doctor of the law. No doubt, I would assume in the temple or in one of the outbuildings, something like that.

[6:30] But that was where he was sent to. And in verse 5, he says, Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.

[6:44] This is his upbringing. This is understand. This man is being taught and trained. This is not preaching the gospel. This is not believing on Jesus Christ.

[6:56] This is him being brought up according to the perfect manner of the law. This has nothing to do with following the Lord Jesus Christ or any of his preaching and teaching. He is sticking with the priests, sticking with the Pharisees.

[7:11] And that's the pretty powerful crowd, by the way. So let's move on to the next thing now. That's his upbringing. As much as we know, you got it, he's being trained and groomed for a position within their religion.

[7:24] And when they say, he says that phrase, where was that? The most straightest sect of our religion. You need to understand there's something to that. And I think we'll get to some of that a little bit later.

[7:35] But they were very, very committed to what they believed. And it wasn't just a humility. As you know, it kind of developed into a powerful thing to where they had clout and they had reputation.

[7:50] They had position and power, even so much as when the Lord Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, they are the ones that went to the governor, Pilate, and demanded that the soldiers lie about it.

[8:04] We'll pay them off. Like, they colluded and worked a conspiracy. And the governor didn't say, no, I'm never going to listen to you. I'm never going to do what you're telling me to do.

[8:16] It was like, they just, that became the story. Because they made it happen. So Saul is getting sucked into this. So now let's look secondly at his actions.

[8:27] Then we're going to start to see some things that he personally did. Come back to Acts chapter 7. The end of Acts chapter 7. And this would be the first mention of him as an individual in the Bible.

[8:41] At the end of this book, or this chapter, through the chapter you have Stephen standing up and preaching.

[8:53] And he goes through a message that shows them how Joseph was sold into slavery.

[9:06] How he told his brethren one thing and then they killed him, so to speak. They thought him to be dead, you know. But then he, the second time he comes back around as this elevated one in Egypt.

[9:20] And he actually saves them and delivers them. And he uses that same thing and he shows Moses. Same thing. Moses showed up one time and they didn't want nothing to do with him. They chased him off. And then he came back around the second time and he delivered them.

[9:33] And that message is going to show you Jesus Christ showed up one time. And you rejected him and crucified him. But he's coming back a second time and he's going to deliver you.

[9:44] And this is Stephen's three-point message using these three men in Hebrew culture. Joseph, Moses, then Jesus. And as he gets through and says that you murdered him, he's accusing them of murdering Jesus Christ.

[9:58] They get fired up. And verse 54, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. They gnashed on him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.

[10:18] And then they cried with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet whose name was Saul.

[10:36] First time he's mentioned. And they stoned Stephen calling upon God saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He kneeled down, cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

[10:49] And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Now, what do we know about Saul? Well, verse number one of the next chapter, Saul was consenting unto his death.

[11:01] So what does that tell us? Well, Saul as a young man, verse 57, a young man's feet named Saul. Saul was, from a youth, was being brought up in Jerusalem under some very powerful men.

[11:14] There's no doubt, just like with Eli and Samuel, that when you saw Samuel, you knew he was under Eli. You knew he was going that direction. He's the next one. When they saw Saul, they knew he's the next one.

[11:28] This is what he's here for. This is who he is. He's a Pharisee, and he's being trained and groomed. And in this case of Stephen preaching, it is Saul, this young man that gives consent to them because he is blaspheming, according to them.

[11:46] He is guilty of death. And Saul knows the perfect manner of the law, and he says, go ahead, pick up the stones. Do what you got to do. And so they laid their clothes, or what does it say?

[12:00] They laid their clothes at his feet, and he consented unto his death. Means he's approving or giving approval for them to carry out this execution of Stephen, a man full of the Holy Ghost.

[12:13] So this is his actions. He's consenting unto the death of stoning. Keep your place right here in Acts 8, but look over at chapter 22 quickly. And this is his own personal testimony to this event in Acts chapter 7.

[12:38] Acts 22, verse 20. He said, When the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

[12:53] This is what Saul was doing. So that's his actions. He's in with that crowd. He's murdering the disciples of the Lord, the men that are full of the Holy Ghost and preaching Jesus Christ.

[13:05] He is against that. Now back in chapter 8, let's pick up something else of his actions. He was a leader of the persecution against the Christians of that day.

[13:18] And this is where Christianity began, there in Jerusalem, at the day of Pentecost, as far as the Holy Ghost descending in Acts 2. And it started there as the central location and began to spread from there.

[13:29] But it didn't spread until there was persecution. Right here in chapter 8, verse 1 again, Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.

[13:42] And they were scattered, they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, made great lamentation over him.

[13:53] As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committed them to prison. What is this guy's deal?

[14:05] He's a leader, is his deal. He was brought up for something and there's some kind of what you might consider, if you're in the Jewish law committee, there's an insurrection rising up in this town against the faith of our fathers, according to their belief.

[14:23] And Saul was a young man, full of zeal, and he said, well then it's my job to put it down. And he's going to show himself zealous for Moses and for the law and for his upbringing and for his father and for his doctor of the law teacher.

[14:40] And he's going to show that I'm with you and I'm part of this and I believe this to my core, that what this uprising is, this is a sect that is against the Lord and against his word, preaching this Jesus and I'm going to put it down.

[14:56] I'm going to squash it. So he went with great persecution. He made havoc of the church and here he is going house to house, seeking them out, hunting them like dogs to take them to prison if they were a Christian.

[15:12] Look at chapter 9 and look a little bit more of the language associated with this persecution.

[15:22] Verse 1, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. So this is not just him in his bedroom getting angry.

[15:35] This is him publicly threatening and putting the posts out and getting the word across the entire city that if there's any one person that is a claimed follower of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, I'm coming for him.

[15:52] You can't hide from me. I've got soldiers, I've got power, I've got men and we're going to take you down. You're going to prison because what you're doing is committing a crime against our law.

[16:03] Threatenings and slaughter. That's a literal word. You know what that means. They're threatening to take their lives and to use their law against them. He goes to the high priest.

[16:15] In verse 2, He desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues. Because why? Because they were scattered from his persecution, making havoc of the church, going in house to house.

[16:28] They were scattered. Judea, Samaria, and apparently now they're all the way up in Syria in Damascus because they're running for their lives and he's desiring permission from the high priest.

[16:39] The high priest. You don't just show up at the high priest's house or wherever he's sitting on a throne and say, Hey, hook me up. He's in there is what I want you to get.

[16:50] He is in the crowd. They know him and they're using his zeal to just exterminate Christians. He desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogue that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

[17:08] And they would stand trial, not before any law, but before the high priest and before the council and they'd be condemned to prison or to death. Look again back to chapter 22.

[17:22] Acts 22. And here's his testimony again. We read the first couple verses in verses 1 through 3, recalling at the end of verse number 3 that he said he was zealous toward God.

[17:41] And here's the zeal that he had which he felt was toward God. We know that it was misplaced, but in his heart this was for the Lord and these are defectors from the faith that God delivered to the Hebrew people.

[17:56] So he's zealous toward God. Verse 4. And I persecuted this way, speaking of those that believed in Jesus, I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

[18:11] As also the high priest doth bear me witness and all the estate of the elders from whom also I received letters unto the brethren and went to Damascus to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem for to be punished.

[18:25] So you get his actions here. He's consenting to the death of Stephen, the Lord's martyr. He is personally making havoc of the church. He's threatening to kill them.

[18:37] He's getting permission by the high priest to go find them wherever they went and bring them back here where they can be tried and we are going to exterminate this faith from the planet. It's not going to be a plague unto our people anymore.

[18:51] This is where Saul is. He was brought up to believe and to obey the law of Moses in the most straightest way. He was also full of zeal as a young man.

[19:03] You can see a young man gets indoctrinated and trained and now he wants to show what he can do because he's not a little boy anymore. He wants to show the aged and the powerful men that you can trust me and I'm somebody and that makes sense in a human narrative of a young man growing up and feeling himself out and beginning to show his strength.

[19:25] And so he wants to make them proud. So this is his actions. Look at chapter 26 of Acts. Acts chapter 26 here again his own personal testimony before King Agrippa.

[19:38] A little bit later in this passage we read earlier verses 4 and 5. Look down now at verse 9. His own testimony Paul says I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

[20:00] I thought with myself so I came up with some of these ideas on my own because I've been trained to think this way and I believed it and I was pleasing the men that I was under and so I decided you know what I'm going to do something about it.

[20:16] That's what I'm going to do. Saul was even as a lost man was filled with zeal as he said toward God. Alright. So I thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus which thing I also did in Jerusalem and many of the saints did I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief priests and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them.

[20:43] He testified against them that they were guilty and deserving to die and there were some of the believers in Jesus Christ murdered. Some of the first martyrs ever in the church because of this man Saul and his zeal they were put to death.

[21:02] These are men and women that are just like you that believed on Jesus for the salvation of their sins and their souls rather the forgiveness of their sins they placed their faith in Christ they walked away from the religion they were trained in and brought up in they weren't idolatrous they learned the truth and they they did what you did they exercised faith in the gospel and now some guy comes to their house ties them up takes them to a messed up trial determines they're guilty and worthy of death against their law and takes their lives children don't have a daddy anymore don't have a mommy anymore because they were murdered by this guy verse number 11 now he he understand this later on he had to carry that with him verse number 11 and I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme how did you do that how do you compel somebody that believes on Christ to blaspheme his name how could somebody get you to do that what do you think torture them with pain mess with their children in front of them mess with their wives in front of them do something that would just just torment them mentally physically

[22:28] I'm not I don't think I'm making anything up here he's breathing out slaughter against the disciples of the Lord he's putting them to death he's persecuting them he's compelling them that's probably a soft word for what he was doing compelling them to blaspheme and look at the next phrase he says about himself and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even under strange cities this man was filled with the devil you might think he was filled with some spirit to annihilate Christianity he was exceeding man what got inside of him that would drive him that his focus that his energy all of his efforts in this life is about exterminating Christians innocent men and women they're not innocent to him they fled their homes in Jerusalem to go seek refuge in some foreign city and he said you're not getting away from me I will find you

[23:29] I will hunt you and I will kill you this guy's nuts he's exceeding exceedingly mad against them you want to talk about his actions that's what they were and it's coming out of the text he's verifying this with his own words now come back to chapter number nine that's his upbringing and that's his actions that's the kind of man he was what his hands were guilty of he had blood on his hands no doubt about it we're studying the apostle Paul here why do we consider him our authority why do we elevate his teaching why do we submit to his epistles as doctrine for the church well we're making the case here this is all about rightly dividing the word of truth remember that we need to understand who this man is and if you don't understand all of this then you're not going to see him as anybody significant and that would be a mistake by the way he's the one that commanded us in the bible to rightly divide the word of truth it came from his pen to do that

[24:35] Jesus Christ Jesus did it but he didn't tell anybody to do it Peter didn't tell anybody to do it but the apostle Paul did so alright let's look now at his conversion at his conversion in Acts chapter 9 we'll just we'll read the beginning here at verse 3 where we stopped at verse 2 in verse 3 as he journeyed he's heading to Damascus he's got the letters in his hand he's got permission he's got men with him and they're going to look for Christians as he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and he said who art thou Lord and the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks and he trembling and astonished said Lord what will thou have me to do and the Lord said unto him arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no man and Saul arose from the earth and when his eyes were opened he saw no man but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither did he eat nor drink this definitely shook him up and it gave him three full days to sit there and to think and to meditate on what he heard what he's been doing and where he's at and what it all means in verse number ten there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to him said the Lord in the vision

[26:24] Ananias he said behold I am here Lord the Lord said unto him arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight so it looks like there's something Saul's doing while he's blind for three days he's talking to God which is a wise thing to do and the Lord's answering him in a vision saying helps on the way then Ananias answered Lord I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem and here in Damascus and here he hath authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name so this isn't a secret what this man is doing and the Lord said unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake and Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said brother Saul isn't that something brother Saul the Lord you murderer

[27:44] Saul you madman you crazy man killing people compelling torturing hurting breathing out threatenings and slaughter and he comes up puts his hands on him and says brother the Lord even Jesus hath appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost and immediately there fell from his eyes that it had been scales and he received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized when he received meat he was strengthened and so there's in a nutshell of Acts 9 his conversion we'll see it again here look at Acts 26 let's see it from his own mouth now interesting in that passage he's transformed from Saul of Tarsus which I'll call the old man to brother Saul the new man and the transformation and the transformations recorded there and what you'll notice going forward in his life is the zeal did not depart the zeal within that man to show to do what he believes in his heart to put action to walk to his talk that did not go anywhere and it doesn't have to go anywhere with you either if you've got some personality you get saved that can still come through for the Lord

[29:13] Jesus Christ it doesn't have to get squashed the Lord put that in you Acts chapter 26 and here's his version of these events and there's a few pieces that he gives us in verse 12 26 12 whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priest at midday O king I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with me and when we were all fallen to the earth I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue Saul Saul why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks and I said who art thou Lord and he said I am Jesus whom thou!

[29:59] persecutest but rise and stand upon thy feet for I have appeared unto thee both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee delivering thee from the people which are the Jews and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me whereupon O King Agrippa I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coast of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance for these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me having therefore obtained help of

[31:00] God I continue unto this day witnessing to both small and great saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come so in between this Paul got a Bible education to understand that the law and the prophets were pointing to Jesus himself whereas he thought he was somebody he needs to persecute and just get his name out of people's mouths so Paul gives his commission from his obedience in following it to fulfill this commission so so far we have his upbringing what he was being groomed to be and he was just gung ho 100% he was all in it shows that in his actions and how he was taking his training and he was zealous toward his beliefs and the law and he went after him and he sought to eliminate men women children whoever it was that claimed the name of

[32:04] Jesus Christ and to bring them to blaspheme that name and to bring them back to the law of Moses and to the perfect manner of the law the way and he was trained and as he is exceedingly mad against these people the Lord interjects and reveals himself and calls him and commissions him and he's converted and he's now one of them he's now a believer in Jesus Christ he knows he's alive he heard his voice and he's going to follow him and do whatever he calls him to do he's now been commissioned by a far higher power and so there's his commission now that's three things out of this outline so far and the next one is his office this would be the last thing we look at today his office so find Romans 11 Romans 11 the

[33:05] Lord that told Ananias that he's a chosen vessel unto me God has a plan for this man and this is where it starts to turn the corner all of that was just kind of historical and good he's saved good he's one of us but now you're going to see that this is a bridge we're going to cross over to show you that this man is not just one of the believers that finds his faith in Damascus Saul alight this is a guy that's got a calling a special chosen calling on his life from God and it goes beyond it's special it's different than the other you remember Jesus went around and said to Peter James to John to Matthew to Andrew he called them follow me and there were twelve that he personally hand picked for a reason this guy

[34:06] Paul Saul at the time he's got the same hand picked relationship going with God and it's different than the other twelve it's not number thirteen he's number one in a completely different category Romans chapter eleven and verse thirteen he's writing this letter to those believers at Rome and he said for I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the apostle singular the number one uno I am the apostle of the Gentiles I magnify mine office either this guy is crazy or this is legit God has given him an office that he is the singular in the moment the apostle of the Gentiles he's been given a specific office from the

[35:10] Lord he is not filling somebody else's shoes that thing with Judas Iscariot has already been satisfied with Matthias back in Acts chapter 1 he's not filling anybody's shoes this is a brand new office not to be associated with the other twelve it's a brand new thing when he calls himself an apostle the apostle of the Gentiles that term means something I'm going to find a verse here that term carries some weight here's the verse look at 2nd Corinthians 12 12 and more than just a conversion took place with this man but God did more than just saved him and called him he empowered him much like Jesus

[36:10] Christ empowered his disciples back in Matthew 10 and he sent them out and he said cleanse the lepers heal the sick raise the dead 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 12 Paul says truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience and signs and wonders and mighty deeds if you're an apostle then you had some gifts some powers from God signs people that call themselves apostles today need to study their bibles because they're not apostles and they don't have signs the apostle Paul said you saw this stuff it was in your presence the signs of an apostle when he calls himself an apostle to the gentiles that's not just a cute little name that he decided I like that one better than the other one I want to be this I want to be!

[37:07] apostle from now Paul and you call me apostle Paul no God called him placed him into a new office as apostle of the gentiles and with that office came some special things came some mighty deeds came some signs as you just read your bible you'll pick those out look at Galatians chapter one Galatians chapter one a little bit more to the right and we'll stop with this verse right here the office of the apostle Paul the apostle to the gentiles look how he writes look what he declares understanding his history his past his youth bringing up to this point look how real this is verse number one Paul an apostle not of men neither by man but by

[38:11] Jesus Christ and God the father who raised him from the dead when he's going to introduce himself in this epistle to these churches of Galatia he calls himself Paul an apostle and before I say anything else you better believe that my authority and my apostles ship comes from God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ it is not the twelve in Jerusalem that came together and voted and there was no elections there was no vote for the next deacon let's all put your names on the ballots none of that this is God picked him chose him and said I got something for you to do nobody else is doing this this is brand new and I'm going to in Acts chapter 9 I didn't highlight it for you but he said I'm going to reveal myself to you again I've got some more things to tell you and to show you let me I'll read that for you just to get the right words of it it was back in Acts chapter 9 verse oh wait that was actually 26

[39:14] I think in 26 when he told him on the road to Damascus rise stand upon thy feet for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee so Christ has a lot to disclose to the apostle Paul down the road in that immediate moment in Acts chapter 9 so when Paul he magnifies his office as he said in Romans 11 here it is just just doing it again to this group of believers having all the authority of God to do this I said I don't mean to lie to you but I do want to read another verse look at 1 Corinthians 9 this is the end I promise the end of the scriptures 1 Corinthians 9 speaking of his apostleship verse number 1 and 2 am I not an apostle the answer obviously is yes you are am I not free how do you become an apostle you just get saved does the

[40:41] Christians decide we want you to be our apostle you can vote on a pastor but you can't vote on an apostle you can't give him the power and the authority and the mighty deeds you can't do that that's something God has to do it's an election of God am I not an apostle the answer is yes and if you are then that's the case closed am I not free have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord are not ye my work in the Lord like they that church themselves are evidence that God is using him and called him and so forth if I be not an apostle unto others yet doubtless I am to you for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord the fact that they even exist as a local church and have truth and have the gospel is seal that he is in fact called of God to this position now closing with this thought there's too many believers today that either ignore or they're just ignorant of it and they're not doing it on purpose but they ignore the significance of Paul's office

[41:51] I was illustrating with both sides of the pulpit that the Lord Jesus called the twelve and they commissioned them over here but over on this side he called the apostle Paul and did not merge him with them no rather he separated him from them and when he goes up in Acts 15 and Galatians 2 and you see him having some interaction with the other apostles they've got to sort some things out because he's over here doing this and they're over here doing this and so people under play or downplay or they're just ignorant of his apostleship his office the position God placed him in and because of that there are many many many fractions and divisions within the body of Christ over understanding Bible doctrine for this age they don't understand right division and it just gives them confusion and uncertainty with passages of the Bible that seem to conflict when you get the apostle Paul right when you get his authority and his position right and when that starts to make sense and you get the kind of the book ends to its application the other stuff stays outside of it the doctrine for us stays within it and it becomes clear and so

[43:16] I think going through his life and doing this study this way is going to help you to see from the beginning it wasn't that way God intervened and called him and then placed him into a specific office and we're going to go a little bit further we only covered four points so far so we've got a little bit more to cover on this and it should help to solidify an understanding of why the apostle Paul why do we emphasize his teachings and his writings and then place them above where other ones may contradict well this is why it's a it's a work of God and so we'll we'll finish that Lord willing next Sunday so let's take about ten minute break right there all