Apostleship of Paul As Seen In Damascus and Arabia

Okay, we're in Galatians. Remember last week, we've divided Galatians up into three main sections. Paul's defense of his apostleship, and that's where we're at right now. That's chapters 1 and 2. Then in chapters 3 and 4, we'll deal with Paul's defense of his justification by faith alone. And then in chapters 5 and 6, Paul's call to liberty. In Paul's defense of his apostleship, I've actually divided it up into six geographical sections in chapters 1 and 2.

Number one, in Tarsus in Jerusalem before Damascus, that's what we looked at last week. This week we're going to look at Saul in Damascus and the Arabian Desert, verses 15 through 17. Then following that, in verses 18 through 20, we have Saul going to Jerusalem for the first time since he was saved, meets with Peter and James. And then, because of some conflicts going on in Jerusalem, Barnabas takes him off to Caesarea, and then Saul heads up to Tarsus for probably nine or ten years, and that's in verses 21 through 24. Then he comes back to Antioch and goes down with several other believers to Jerusalem in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10.

That's in Jerusalem with the pillars of the church down there. And then six, sometime in Antioch, I believe it's during this same period of time, whether it was before they all went down to Jerusalem or after they came back, there isn't a record in acts of Peter going up to Antioch, or even Peter being a part of the people in Antioch before they went down there.

But sometime during that time, Saul has to confront Peter on his doctrine. And here's the timeline. Of course, by now you know I like timelines. We see the first part of what we studied last week was Paul's conversion before Damascus. The second part was during Damascus in Arabia, which we'll be talking about today.

And then Peter and James get with Saul in Jerusalem. That's part three. And then in part four, he spends nine or 10 years up in Tarsus. not only preparing for his ministry, but also preaching the gospel up there. And then part five, we see Saul and Barnabas and Titus, they all get together and they head down from Antioch to Jerusalem. And then during this same time, in part six, Saul confronts Peter in Antioch.

Last week we dealt with Saul's life before he went to Damascus. Saul was building his career on the persecution, imprisonment, and death of those in the church, even pursuing them to foreign cities. Before he was saved, we would classify him as one of the most evil men in history. He was climbing the corporate ladder of Judaism on the bodies of the Christians he had imprisoned and murdered.

And we ended with this last week, Acts 9, verses 1 and 2. Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them down to Jerusalem.

Now, our passage today deals with Saul in Damascus and the Arabian Desert. And here's our passage. I'm going to go ahead and read what we covered last week, and then what you see in red is what we're dealing with today. In verse 13, we read, For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. And now, this morning, but when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia, and then returned once more to Damascus.

So, once again, I'm going to give you another outline for what we're looking at today. We're going to break these three verses down in three different parts. First of all, Saul's calling. Number two, Saul's purpose. And then three, Saul's action. So starting with Saul's calling. But when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace." Notice here, Saul was called by God before he was ever saved.

Now, this brings up a lot of controversy. And this controversy, I don't want to dwell a whole lot on this, but it has to do with, are you a Calvinist? Or are you an Arminian? Or are you somewhere in between? And this has to do with the complicated doctrine of Lapsarianism. And Lapsarianism, I don't know if you're familiar with that, but Lapsarian means the fall. When in God's decree did man actually fall? Was it before he elected men? Was it after he elected men? And there's three parts to lapsarianism, sub, supra, and sub.

I don't really want to talk a whole lot about that, because we're going to move on. If you want more information... Go ahead. If you want more information about the subject of Calvinism and Lapsarianism, see Wayne right after studies go, and he will explain it all to you. Whenever I study it, I end up getting a headache.

Yes. Well, the main point is he called him by his grace. That's the main message here. The question is, did he foreknow this? God knows all things. That's right. But anyway, yeah. Bob, just to kind of build on that a little bit, what Bob said, you know, I said it's important that every believer realizes that he's called, too. And the whole idea, you know, But you don't realize that until you're saved. Yes, that's right. So when you're saved, you're called. If you're not saved, you're not called. To me, that helps out a lot. If you're saved, now I'm called. That's right. And the next couple of slides, we're going to see that.

So what exactly is meant by the calling of God? The root word in Greek is kaleo, to call, to summon, or to invite. Speaking theologically, not scripturally, speaking as a theologian, as other theologians, I don't know if I am one or not, calling can be broken down into two subcategories, a general call and a divine call. A general call is when God, through a proclamation of Scripture, invites everyone to accept the free gift of Jesus Christ as their Savior.

This is not what we're talking about here. And that's important. What we are talking about here is the technical meaning of the divine call, which we see in God's plan for every believer. This calling comes from God the Holy Spirit, not only in preparation at the point of salvation, but also the believer's justification and ultimate glorification. In predestination, God calls only those who will believe. In God's omniscience, his divine call only goes out to those that he knows will put their faith in Christ. This can be seen in Romans chapter 8, verses 29 and 30.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

From a theological point of view, election, chosen, and called are all synonymous terms when it comes to predestination. If we were to put a human timeline on God's predestination and omniscience, it would look like this. Foreknowledge and predestination took place in eternity past. Calling and justification takes place in the believer in time. Now remember, this is putting a human timeline on it, not God's timeline. And then glorification takes place in eternity future.

This calling is the work of the Holy Spirit towards only those who will believe. So that kind of shoots Calvinism and Lapsarianism out the back door. You can study that on your own. We're not talking about that today. Unbelievers are never a recipient of this call. Let's look at a chart once more, but this time we'll work backwards, yes?

But the call to salvation is there to all men, right? Yes, that's what I would call a general call. I call this call a divine call. And it's based on Romans chapter 8. Let's look at this chart. And to illustrate this, we're going to look at it backwards. We're going to start with glorified. There will be a certain number of people glorified in God's plan. No more or no less, there's a certain number glorified. And that same number, they're justified, no more no less. The same number are called, no more, no less. The same number are predestined, no more, no less. And the same number are foreknown.

So in God's foreknowledge in Romans chapter 8, we are talking about those whom he called to believe. We're not dealing with the unbeliever here. So if this calling is only effective for those who will believe, what is involved in our calling? We are not called to be saved in this sense, in the divine sense, but as believers we are called to be justified and ultimately glorified. The believer's calling can be summed up in Romans chapter 6.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through the baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. One of the most critical passages in scripture.

Yes. No question about it. It is further amplified in Ephesians chapters 1 and 2. Here's a chart I put together. In our calling, every believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. So when God calls us, he actually puts us into Christ. And this is called positional truth, which we hear a whole lot about here.

Ephesians 1.4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. We have this position in Christ, every single believer.

So many times we want to associate election chosen and calling with the act of being saved. And this is a mistake. Some will say we are elected to be saved, and some aren't. Or some will say we are chosen or called to salvation, and others are chosen or called to go to hell. That's just not found in the scripture anywhere. Do not mix up our election with our volition. Our volition is our free will to choose or reject Christ.

The divine decrees of God, human responsibility, has always coexisted with God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty and justice will never override the free will of man. God created man with a free will when he placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden. This was his first, what I call, divine decree. In Genesis 2, we read, So God gave every man a free will.

Our salvation is based on the finished work of Christ on the cross when we put our faith in the gospel. Our calling is based on God's predestinedness to become conformed to the image of his son. Do we think that Saul, without prior knowledge of the gospel, just suddenly believed on that road to Damascus? A lot of times I'm thinking to myself, here's Saul on his way to put in prison a lot of the believers in Damascus, and then suddenly he believes.

Did that just happen overnight? That was certainly a miracle, but most likely the Holy Spirit had been working on him as far back as Stephen's death, and maybe even before that. When it comes to Stephen's death, we just studied last Tuesday night Paul's sermon on Mars Hill in Athens. And Paul used the same reasoning that he heard Stephen use when witnessing to the Sanhedrin back in Acts chapter 7. So here's Paul standing by the sidelines during Stephen's trial, unobscured, most likely listening to every word that Stephen had to say. And he took what Stephen had to say a few years later, and presented it to the people in Athens.

In Acts 747 and 748, Stephen says to the Sanhedrin, but it was Solomon who built a house for him. However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, which is a reference back in Isaiah 66. And then jump forward a few years to Acts 17, Paul Paul took this same thing he heard Stephen say, and he applied it to the people in Athens. For God, who made the world and all things in it, since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

When using Stephen's words in Athens, Was it just a coincidence, or had the Holy Spirit been working on Saul clear back in chapter 7? Bob, just a point, you know, we read in Scripture that Paul was all learned the ways of Moses in the Old Testament, which we know. So I agree with your speculation here, but the dramatic salvation on the road to Damascus is incredible. Yes, it is. I mean, so, but God's calling, specific calling to Saul was ultimately what you're describing as the divine intervention. Right.

Paul knew, well, let me go on. Saul was fully aware of the gospel. not only from Stephen's message, but he was also aware of the apostles and probably the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lived at the same time that the apostles were in Jerusalem, and Christ was there, Christ's trial, his death, his resurrection. Paul was probably fully aware of all of that. And like Bob said, I think the Holy Spirit was working on him. And then suddenly on the Damascus Road, which is a fantastic story that we're not really going to deal with much today, but it's a fantastic story where Christ actually came down and saw Christ, and he realized that he is the Messiah. And that changed his whole life.

Saul was in Jerusalem with Gamaliel at the time of Christ. And here's the timeline of Saul with Parsis. I think I passed out a paper saying almost—I've changed a few things there. But what we want to look at right here is that Saul was probably a few years younger than Jesus.

His parents sent him off to be educated, probably at the age of five. But as a teenager, he went to be trained by Gamaliel. And our friend Josephus says Gamaliel didn't even start his teaching in a school until 22 AD. So Paul was probably a late teenager during the time that that he was in Jerusalem, and he was also there for John the Baptist's ministry, and also for the apostles and Christ's ministry. So he was fully aware of what was going on and the gospel. On the Damascus road, Christ said, why are you persecuting me?

And Saul of his own free will believed. God knowing this, called Saul even from his mother's womb. He was called long before he ever became a believer. And he was called to a particular purpose, which brings us up to part number two. In Galatians One, our passage, but when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles. This calling was declared by the Lord to Ananias when he first met Saul in Damascus. The Lord said to Ananias, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine. Notice that word chosen. To bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he suffered for my name's sake.

No other writer in all the scripture has revealed the person and work of Jesus Christ and his church to the extent that Paul did. If it weren't for Paul's calling, we would know very little about the age that we live in or our position in Christ. Even Peter, in his letters to the dispersed Jews in Asia Minor and Galatia, encouraged his readers to consider Paul's writings. He said in 1 Peter 3, verse 15, And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord in salvation has also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand.

You know, the neat thing, Bob, here is to reveal his son in me. The first perfect example of the exchanged life. I mean, the grammar here is incredible. To reveal his son in me. That's a calling for all of us, isn't it? Yes. Which brings us to our last point. Saul's action. Now let's get back to the main context of chapters one and two. Paul's defense of his apostleship.

This is seen in his time spent in the Arabian desert. In Galatians 1, verse 17, our passage, But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. But I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus." Now, it's apparent that between Saul's conversion and his return to Damascus, he spent some time in Arabia.

And this is where we're going to find a bit of a controversy here. We're not talking about Saudi Arabia, which is south of Judea, down around Sinai, but the Arabian Desert right next to Damascus. And here's a map illustrating that. You have Damascus up there in the top. And from Damascus, Paul just went right out into the Arabian Desert. I don't suppose he went 100 miles, maybe not 50, maybe even 10 miles, but he went out into the Arabian Desert. There appears to be a contradiction on when this trip to Arabia took place. The contradiction is pointed out here.

In Acts chapter 9, verse 19, And he took food and was strengthened. This is right after his conversion. And now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus. And immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God. That's what we find in our passage in Acts.

But now in Galatians, verses, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, I did not immediately consult with Salish blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and then returned once more to Damascus. So in one passage in Acts, we have Paul immediately getting with other believers and also going to the synagogues preaching immediately.

But in Galatians, we find out But Paul says, I didn't consult with flesh and blood. So, did he go to Arabia immediately? Or did he spend some time in Damascus? That would be the question. The passage in Acts has Paul spending several days with the disciples and proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues.

But our passage in Galatians has Paul ignoring all men and heading straight to Arabia. Now, it should be noted, and this is where we find our answer, hopefully, it should be noted that Paul and Luke are looking at this account from two different perspectives. Luke is a historian, and as such, he will either include or leave out certain details of his historical narrative. Now, Paul, on the other hand, he's not a historian, He's writing to give evidence for his claim of apostleship apart from men. So the Book of Acts has no mention of Arabia, except it may have been alluded to when Barnabas introduced Saul to Peter and James in Jerusalem. I'm just going to throw this out. You think what you want about it.

In Acts 9.26 we read, And when he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had talked to him and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. Now, this phrase, and he had talked to them, some will say, well, that's what happened on the road to Damascus. But other theologians will allude to the fact that, no, this is when Saul was in the Arabian Desert, when he actually was trained by Christ. So, in fact, Saul did not consult with flesh and blood concerning his apostleship, but he did spend several days after his conversion with the disciples in Damascus, even going to the synagogues proclaiming Christ.

So when you put those two things together, we're not finding a contradiction here at all. Acts 9 goes on to say, but Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him. Then verse 24, But their plot became known to Saul, and they were also watching the gates day and night, so that they might put him to death. But his disciples took him by night and led him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. So in our passage in Acts chapter 9, we have Saul talking to the other believers, preaching in the synagogues, and then he was increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus.

So the first thing you might think of is, so we have a picture of Saul when he was first saved in Damascus, and then we have a picture of Saul just before he is about to leave Damascus. So what happened in between? So when exactly did Saul go to Arabia, and was it for three years?

This is a question Bob and I have talked about a little bit. I don't know if I've convinced him, and I don't know, he hasn't convinced me yet. I'm not, but I doubt that. So you've agreed to disagree? I have disagreed to disagree. I don't know about Bob. We'll talk afterwards. We'll talk afterwards.

In our passage in Galatians, nor did I go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus. Now I'm going to do something I shouldn't be doing. I'm going to jump to verse 18. I'm not allowed to talk about verse 18 right now, but— That's not your task. Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem.

Context, context, context. Yes. Very good. It's obvious that Saul spent time in the Arabian desert during his stay in Damascus. The question is, did the three years in verse 18 refer just to Arabia or the period from his conversion to Jerusalem? And most people when they talk about his time in Arabia, they'll say, he spent three years in Arabia. But I'm not so sure that's true. But maybe I just... Miles, answer that question. Yes. I refuse to give my opinion on that, because I have now ventured into verse 18, which Miles will cover next week. Pressure's on, Miles.

But in spite of all of this, what is important in today's lesson Saul solidified his apostleship in the Arabian desert, being taught directly by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what's important in our passage in Galatians. I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, but I went away to Arabia. After Saul's conversion, he met with other disciples, he proclaimed Christ in the synagogues, and probably discussed spiritual things with them. But it was in Arabia that Christ trained him for his mission to the Gentiles, and this most likely included the mystery of the doctrine of the Church, the relationship between Jew and Gentile, the relationship between law and grace, and our position in Christ. And this apostleship came directly from Christ, not man. So, we're done. Yes. So what's your evidence for that last statement? for the fact that Christ taught all... Well, I'm just assuming that this is when Christ taught him about his mission to the Gentiles. Sounds great, but can you give me a chapter?

I cannot give you a chapter and a verse. You know, there's a lot of times we just have to take a look at everything and read between the lines. I mean, we all talk about him being directly educated by the Lord, in the desert in Arabia, but we don't. I mean, Paul gives you no details about that experience. No. But what he does say, he wasn't taught this by other apostles or other men.

I mean, the implications are there. It's not that I don't believe it. I'm just wondering exactly where, if you were talking to a skeptic, how would you prove to him or her that ultimately that's... Well, I think if you were talking to a skeptic, you've already gone too far in your discussion. If he's not a believer, you shouldn't be talking about things like this. Believing skeptic. Are we talking about you, Bob? I hope not.

Really, when you put Galatians and... acts together, you've got to come up with a few assumptions. You've actually got to do that with all the Scripture. You've got to compare Scripture with Scripture. You cannot take just one verse and ignore the rest of the Word of God. That's a mistake that too many people make today.

Oh, hi. Yeah, this is Andrew. Hey, and he says he received. all this from a direct revelation of Jesus Christ. But he's, your bullet point there is correct. He introduced all these doctrines or this good news, the mystery of the doctrine of the church, Jew and Gentile, the law and grace, our position in Christ.

So he had, and he says that he got that through a direct revelation from Jesus Christ, but when he The Damascus Road incident was so short. He only talked to Christ there for a bit, so somewhere else he talked to Christ a lot, right? And we know it was before he wrote the book of Galatians, because we're going to spend chapters 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 being taught, the Galatians are being taught concerning these very issues. And so I'm sure, and I'm reading between the lines again, that on his first missionary journey, when he went to Galatia, he was teaching the same things in the churches there. And that's why the Judaizers were getting so mad at him. So he picked this up, he picked all this doctrine up before his first missionary journey. So, reading between the lines, it seems logical to me that this happened while he was being trained by Christ in the Arabian Desert. Yes. You know, I'm thinking maybe Paul didn't spend three consecutive years in the desert in Arabia. Maybe he went back and forth to Damascus and to Arabia and got caught each time. That's exactly what I told Bob last week.

Now, I'm getting into miles. Miles' territory again. And I said I was going to refuse to have an opinion about this, but in the back of my mind, I can see Saul in Damascus, preaching in the synagogues, talking scripture, or spiritual things with other believers, and then maybe going off to the Arabian desert for a few weeks, coming back, and then maybe going off again, coming back. I'm not so sure he spent three whole years in Arabia, but let's wait and see what Miles has to say about that. Anything else?

Oh, Bob, I think we should I think we should set miles up and then he can he can make the decision next week. All right. I think I don't know is miles here today. I don't think he is. He must be next door. But I'm sure. If miles does what I'm going to do, he's going to listen. To last week's lesson. And he's going to hear all this. So, yes, we're setting him up. So, can I add 1 more thing? Yes. I'm of the opinion that he went away. And was totally isolated for 3 years. Okay. Because if you. Look at Elijah by the Brooke Cherith and he went out for. And that drought was three years, and he was fed by ravens.

So I kind of connected to that, but that's just an opinion, too. And some of you guys are now saying he was coming back to get Chick-fil-A breaks in Damascus. We're not actually saying that. We're suggesting that that may have been an option. Yeah, no. Now I'm on the fence because your argument is good too, so this is good.

If you want to argue with Elijah and what happened to Saul, this is all conjecture and assumption and opinion. Yes, Bob. Just to repeat what I said before, but there are two circumstances about Saul Paul's education and trained to be what he was and what the Lord had for him. And that's this experience. We have no details. And the second is his trip to the third heaven. We have no details about that experience, but they're tremendous.

But I think God has kept certain things from us because all we need to know is the ministry that Paul has had and how much impact on the church that has been for us individually. We don't need to know about exactly how the world transmitted his education to Paul. And that's why it's important. What we know today is that Saul's apostleship did not come from the apostles, did not come from other men. It came directly from Jesus Christ.

Anything else? In McDonald's is way before Chick-fil-A. I prefer Wendy's. Oh my goodness. How about White Castle? The last White Castle I saw was when I was in Chicago. Do they have them here? No, not here. They had little square ones. Actually, when I was a kid, Royal Castle, that's kind of a derivative of White Castle, with all these little square hamburgers. Yeah, they were about the size of a 50 cent egg. Exactly.

You know, it's a good thing I ended early, so we can go off on these nights. Important discussion, theological discussion. Is there any other comment about our lesson today? Bob, you want to close us in prayer? That'd be great. Father, we're grateful for how much you've shown us in Scripture, but also there's some mysteries that are unexplained by you in Scripture, but we don't really have all the information we would like to have, but we trust that you've provided everything we need. I mean, the ministry you've given Paul and how he was called to such an incredible ministry, we've benefited now for two millennia and we're thankful for the teaching that he's given us and the book of Galatians is a very special opportunity to grow in grace and truth. So we're thankful for Bob's lesson as he presented it today and we're thankful for the service to follow in Jesus name we pray, amen.